AM  IN  AFRICA 


ATTERBURY 


<4)\V  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Purchased   by  the    Hamill   Missionary   Fund. 


EPM".. 
AAASL 


Division 

Section yhMA.L 


ISLAM  IN  AFRICA 

ITS    EFFECTS-RELIGIOUS,    ETHICAL,    AND 

SOCIAL-UPON  THE  PEOPLE  OF 

THE   COUNTRY 


BY 

ANSON  P.  ATTERBURY 

Pastor  of  the  Park  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York 
WITH  INTRODUCTION  BY 

F.  F.  ELLINWOOD 

Professor  of  Comparative  Religion,  New  York  University 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

Gbe  "Knickerbocker  press 

1899 


Copyright,  1899 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall.  London 


Ube  "fcnfcfeerbocfcer  ipreso,  IRew  Jgorfe 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  true  character  of  the  Oriental  religions 
has  never  been  so  widely  discussed  as  at 
the  present  time.  There  have  been  two  ex- 
tremes in  the  treatment  of  these  systems,  and 
it  is  of  the  very  first  importance  that  well  con- 
sidered and  candidly  presented  truth  respecting 
them  should  be  laid  before  the  public.  The 
idea  that  Islam  is  wholly  an  imposture,  destitute 
of  all  true  ethics,  wholly  opposed  through  all 
its  history  to  enlightenment,  and  breathing  only 
cruelty  and  destruction,  and  that  it  is  therefore 
unworthy  of  serious  study,  should  be  laid  aside 
as  not  only  unjust,  but  as  productive  of  harm 
so  far  as  it  is  untrue  and  misleading.  Partly  by 
way  of  reaction  from  this  intolerant  position, 
many  apologists  of  the  system  have  gone  to  an 
opposite  extreme  of  laudation ;  and  this  has  been 
carried  to  such  an  extent  that  it  may  now  be 


iv  Introduction 

said  to  be  the  fashion  to  exalt  Islam  and  to 
claim  that  it  is  a  sort  of  preparatory  school  by 
which  such  countries  as  Africa,  for  example, 
may  most  successfully  be  brought  to  an  ultimate 
civilisation. 

The  work  prepared  by  Rev.  Anson  P.  Atter- 
bury,  D.D.,  Ph.D.,  on  African  Mohammedanism, 
is  therefore  most  timely  ;  and  after  a  careful 
perusal  I  have  not  hesitated  to  request  its  pub- 
lication. It  strikes  me  as  eminently  fair  in  its 
treatment.  It  is  also  thorough,  being  charac- 
terised by  a  conscientious  examination  of  facts 
and  the  authorities  by  which  they  are  given. 
The  works  of  Mr.  R.  Bosworth  Smith,  Canon 
Taylor,  and  Dr.  Edward  Blyden,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  writings  of  Livingstone,  Stanley, 
the  late  Bishop  Crowther,  Cardinal  Lavigerie, 
and  many  others  on  the  other,  have  presented 
so  many  contradictions  in  regard  to  the  influ- 
ence of  Islam  upon  the  northern  and  central 
portions  of  Africa  that  the  public  mind  is  more 
or  less  involved  in  doubt.  Is  it  the  part  of  wis- 
dom to  leave  Africa  for  a  time  at  least  to  the 
aggressive  influence  of  Mohammedanism,  as 
Canon  Taylor  has  advised,  and  to  trust  to  its 


Introduction  v 

known  hostility  to  intemperance  as  the  best 
and  most  effective  barrier  against  the  trade  of 
so-called  Christian  nations  in  intoxicating 
liquors  ?  Shall  we  allow  Mohammedan  propa- 
gandism  along  the  whole  southern  border  of 
Eastern  and  Western  Soudan  to  take  the  place 
of  Bantu  superstitions  among  the  races  lying 
south  of  them,  in  the  belief  that  Islam  is  better 
than  fetichism  and  the  wholesale  murder  in- 
duced by  witchcraft  ?  Or  shall  the  Christian 
world  put  forth  strenuous  efforts  for  those  su- 
perstitious tribes  ere  Mohammedanism  shall 
have  fixed  its  stamp  of  fanaticism  and  bigotry 
upon  them,  rendering  it  thereafter  far  more  dif- 
ficult to  reach  them  with  civilising  agencies? 

It  is  such  considerations  as  these  that  render 
the  work  of  Dr.  Atterbury  timely  and  important. 
In  his  earlier  chapters  he  has  given  such  general 
attention  to  the  rise  and  character  of  Islam  and 
its  author  as  seems  necessary  in  opening  the 
way  to  the  particular  questions  which  he  has 
treated  farther  on.  His  estimate  and  judgment 
of  Mohammed  himself  will  not  be  considered 
severe  by  any  candid  man.  If  he  errs  in  any 
respect  it  is  on  the  side  of  charity.     His  survey 


vi  Introduction 

of  the  African  field,  the  race  divisions  of  its 
population,  the  aggressive  tendencies  of  the 
Mohammedan  peoples,  and  the  more  or  less 
helpless  condition  of  the  tribes  which  they  are 
invading,  is  full  of  instruction.  The  theatre 
of  the  great  conflict  which  seems  to  lie  in  the 
immediate  future  is  well  and  graphically  pre- 
sented. 

The  real  vital  questions,  which  are  ably  dis- 
cussed in  the  later  chapters,  are  such  as  these  : 
What  is  the  character  of  Mohammedan  propa- 
gandism  in  Africa?  Is  it  a  peaceful  missionary 
work,  actuated  by  a  sincere  desire  of  devoted 
men  to  raise  up  superstitious  tribes  to  a  know- 
ledge of  the  one  only  true  God,  with  correspond- 
ing efforts  to  bring  them  to  a  high  degree  of 
thrift  and  a  participation  in  all  the  blessings  of 
civilisation  ?  Or  is  it  for  the  most  part  a  re- 
morseless and  bloody  conquest,  either  by  ambi- 
tious adventurers  like  Samadu  in  the  West,  act- 
ing under  the  cloak  of  religious  propagandism, 
or  by  the  still  worse  impulse  of  unscrupulous 
and  cruel  slave  raiders  like  Tippu  Tip  and  others 
on  the  Congo  and  throughout  Eastern  Africa? 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  facts  presented  by  Dr. 


Introduction  vii 

Atterbury  are  conclusive  on  this  point.  He  is 
sustained,  not  only  by  the  testimony  of  nu- 
merous travellers,  as  well  as  of  missionaries, 
but  by  the  current  records  of  the  newspaper 
press  as  they  have  come  to  us  from  time  to 
time  in  the  last  decade. 

It  is  confessed  that  the  arraignment  of  West- 
ern nations  for  the  great  evils  connected  with 
the  wholesale  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  on  the 
Congo  and  in  the  ports  of  West  Africa  is  just, 
and  difficult  to  answer,  if  regard  be  had  to  na- 
tions and  governments  as  such.  But  the  great 
difference  between  the  wrongs  inflicted  by  a 
certain  element  in  this  country  and  in  Europe 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  high  philanthropic 
and  benevolent  interest  and  effort  of  the  Christ- 
ian Church  of  every  denomination  on  the  other, 
is  one  which  it  seems  exceedingly  difficult  to 
impress  either  upon  Mohammedans  in  the  East 
or  upon  their  apologists  in  the  West.  There  is 
a  vast  difference  between  the  liquor  traffic  on 
the  West  Coast  and  the  slave  traffic  in  the  East, 
in  the  fact  that  the  whole  weight  of  Christian 
influence  lies  against  the  liquor  traffic,  while  the 
influence  of  Mohammedanism  is  on  the  side  of 


VI 11 


Introduction 


the  slave  trade  between  Africa  and  that  sacred 
land  of  Islam,  Arabia.  The  Koran  itself  en- 
courages the  capture  of  female  slaves,  at  least 
by  those  who  are  engaged  in  war  for  the  stand- 
ard of  Islam  ;  and  the  present  status  of  slavery 
in  Arabia  and  other  Mohammedan  countries  is 
in  a  line  with  the  whole  history  of  Islam  and 
the  example  of  the  prophet.  It  justifies  itself 
by  the  teaching  of  his  alleged  inspirations,  and 
the  policy  pursued  through  the  long  history  of 
the  system  in  many  lands  and  through  many 
centuries.  Slavery  is  the  great  industry  of 
Mohammedans  in  Eastern  Africa,  and  even  the 
Muftis  and  sacred  teachers  of  Islam  are  en- 
gaged in  the  traffic.  Slavery  is  a  part  of  Islam  ; 
the  liquor  trade  is  no  part  of  Christianity. 
There  are  apologists  among  us  who,  embold- 
ened by  a  sort  of  popular  encouragement  which 
has  not  been  wanting  of  late,  venture  to  claim 
that  Mohammedanism  has  done  and  is  doing 
more  for  civilisation  than  Christianity.  It  is 
useless  to  enter  into  elaborate  argument  on  this 
point.  The  desolations  of  Northern  Africa,  once 
populous,  now  scarcely  accessible  to  travellers 
without  military  escort,  the  long  caravan  routes 


Introduction  ix 

strewn  with  bleaching  bones  of  slaves,  the  deso- 
lation and  depopulation  of  whole  districts  east 
of  the  African  lakes  as  well  as  on  the  borders  of 
the  Great  Desert — these  must  respond  to  the 
allegation  that  Islam  moves  in  the  forefront  of 
civilisation,  and  sows  broadcast  the  seeds  of 
prosperity  and  peace  among  men. 

F.  F.  Ellinwood. 


PREFACE 

PERHAPS  the  writer  was  the  better  pre- 
pared to  undertake  this  investigation  from 
some  personal  observation  of  Mohammedanism 
in  India,  Egypt,  and  the  Turkish  Empire.  But 
the  work  here  attempted  is  such  as  no  man 
could  qualify  himself  to  perform  merely  by  or- 
dinary travelling  ;  it  would  be  hard,  or  impos- 
sible, for  one  to  reach  so  widely  in  personal 
experience  as  to  be  prepared  thereby  to  speak 
concerning  the  varied  Mohammedanism  of  the 
African  continent.  Limited  personal  experi- 
ence would,  necessarily,  make  one's  presenta- 
tion of  the  subject  partial  and  prejudiced.  To 
take  the  statements  of  many  men,  to  weigh 
testimony  and  reconcile  or  reject  contradiction, 
to  estimate  and  allow  for  personal  prejudice — 
to  view  the  field  as  a  whole — is  work  to  be  done 
only  at  a  distance,  and  calmly  in  one's  study. 


xii  Preface 

It  is  surprising  to  find  how  largely  an  inves- 
tigation of  this  subject,  and  similar  subjects, 
must  depend  upon  the  lives  and  labours  of 
Christian  missionaries  for  reliable  information. 
It  is  only  another  proof  of  the  valuable  collat- 
eral benefits  rendered  by  foreign  missionary 
effort. 

The  manuscript  of  this  work  was  sent  to  Rev. 
F.  F.  Ellinwood,  D.D.,  Secretary  of  the  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Foreign  Missions  and  Professor 
of  Comparative  Religions  in  New  York  Univer- 
sity. In  a  private  letter  Dr.  Ellinwood  makes 
some  remarks  concerning  Mohammedanism 
which  it  is  important  to  present,  as  possibly 
balancing  what  may  seem  to  some  an  unduly 
favourable  estimate  of  the  prophet  and  his 
religion  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  book.  He 
writes  : 

"  In  one  or  two  points  I  am  compelled  to  differ 
from  your  favourable  estimate  of  Mohammed  as 
contained  in  the  first  chapter.  Since  I  returned 
the  MS.  I  have  read  over  the  Koran  anew.  I  am 
more  and  more  impressed  with  its  pettifogging 
character.  Every  sura  seems  to  have  been  written 
for  some  personal  object,  and  not  from  any  divine 
constraint.     What  a  contrast  to  the  old  prophets, 


Preface  xiii 

who  were  driven  to  the  disinterested  utterance  of 
unwelcome  messages  !  There  is  no  '  Woe  is  me  ! ' 
but  there  is  a  lust  to  be  justified,  or  a  defeat  (as  at 
Ohad)  to  be  palliated,  or  a  victory  (as  at  Bedr)  to 
be  made  capital  of,  or  there  is  a  dig  to  be  given  to 
the  people  of  Mecca,  or  a  curse  to  be  administered 
to  the  Koreish;  or  a  weak  point  in  the  faith  is  to  be 
patched,  or  a  robbery  of  caravans  is  to  be  justified, 
or  the  blind  bravery  of  his  soldiers  is  to  be  stimu- 
lated by  some  new  promise  of  heavenly  houris  who 
'  shall  always  remain  virgins.'  I  find  that  the 
threats  of  hell  are  repeated  some  hundreds  of 
times,  and  generally  against  those  who  do  not  pin 
their  faith  to  '  me '.  And  they  are  placed  in  such 
settings  and  expressed  in  such  a  questionable  spirit 
as  to  seem  not  the  solemn  utterances  of  a  real 
prophet,  but  the  mere  hard  swearing  of  an  un- 
scrupulous adventurer,  who  has  an  object  to  gain. 
The  Old  Testament  scriptures  are  used,  not  as 
utterances  of  the  voice  of  God  and  for  their  own 
sake,  but  always  as  means  to  an  end.  Where  are 
there  any  psalms  of  devotion  or  prayers  of  spirit- 
ual aspiration  ?  As  to  the  New  Testament,  the 
Apocryphal  Gospels  are  preferred, — a  fact  which 
shows  more  of  sharp  practice  than  of  sincerity. 
I  cannot  regard  Mohammed  as  a  real  prophet. 
Though  he  was  a  man  of  power,  he  was  corrupted 
by  his  own  revelations." 

A.  P.  A. 

New  York, 

Jamiary,  1899. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 
Preface    . 


.    in 
.    ix 


CHAPTER  I 
Mohammed       .  

Appearance  of  Mohammed  as  a  prophet — Idea  of  the 
One  God  a  sublime  thought  that  possessed  his  whole 
being — Age  of  Mohammed — Description  of — Story  of 
his  vision  and  call — His  physical  condition — Nervous 
temperament  of — His  claimed  inspiration — His  en- 
vironment—  The  Hanifs  —  Judaism  —  The  political 
condition  of  Arabia — The  prophet  in  Medina — The 
sincerity  of  Mohammed — R.  Bosworth  Smith's  estim- 
ate of  Mohammed — Thomas  Carlyle's  estimate — 
E.  A.  Freeman's  estimate — Mohammed's  belief  in 
himself — His  moral  weakness — Mohammed  a  moral 
contradiction. 


PAGE 

I 


CHAPTER  II 


Islam 


Meanings  of   the   word    "Islam"  —  The   Koran  — 

Claimed  inspiration  of —  Revelations  of  Mohammed 

xv 


'5 


xvi  Contents 


PAGE 

— Letter  from  Sheik-ul-Islam  to  a  German  convert — 
Relative  importance  of  certain  doctrines  and  duties 
— Prayer — Practical  duties — The  hope  of  Paradise — 
Fatalism — Points  of  contact  between  Islam  and 
Christianity — Essential  evils  sanctioned  by  the  Koran 
— Vital  power  of  the  truth  in  its  doctrine  of  the  One 
God  sufficient  to  sustain  the  system  in  spite  of  its 
evils. 

CHAPTER  III 
The  Continent  and  its  Exploration  .         .    30 

Victor  Hugo's  prediction — Area  of  the  continent — 
Physical  features — Ethiopia — Beginning  of  modern 
exploration — Stanley's  journey  to  the  Albert  Nyanza 
in  1876 — His  journey  to  Stanley  Falls  in  1888 — Ma- 
terial improvements  in  the  last  two  decades — Rail- 
roads. 

CHAPTER  IV 

The  Native  Races 38 

The  ethnography  of  Africa — Racial  distinctions  not 
generally  recognised  by  Europeans — A  proper  under- 
standing of  racial  distinctions  necessary  to  compre- 
hend the  whole  problem  of  the  continent — The 
Hamitic  races — Egyptian,  including  the  Copts — 
Berber — Home  of  the  Berber  race — Barbary  civilisa- 
tion— The  Touarik  family — Mr.  James  Richardson's 
journey  in  1845-6 — Fezzan — Semitic  element — Arabs 
— The  Arabs  largely  the  merchants  and  slave-traders 
of  Central  and  Northern  Africa — Dr.  Pruen's  illus- 
tration of  their  character  and  business  methods  and 
capability — The  Arabs  slavers,  robbers,  desolators  of 
a  continent — The  Nuba-Fulah  group — The  Nyam- 


Contents  xvii 

PAGE 

nyam  tribe— The  Hausa  tribe — The  negro — The  gen- 
eral idea  of  African  population  largely  derived  from 
the  negro — Slaves  principally  taken  from  this  race — 
Home  of  the  race — Description  of  the  negro — Bam- 
basi — The  Bantu  or  Zulu  or  Kafir  race— Fifty 
millions  of  this  race  in  Africa — Description  of  the 
race — Uganda — Social  order  in — Livingstone's,  Co- 
lenso's,  and  Wilberforce's  estimate  of  the  Bantu  race 
— Faithfulness  of  the  Bantu — Grand  possibilities  for 
future  civilisation  of  the  race — The  Hottentot  family 
— The  wild  and  impossible  African  -largely  a  feature 
of  the  imagination — Fetichism — Witchcraft — The  ne- 
gro different  from  but  not  inferior  to  the  Caucasian 
— The  African  a  man. 

CHAPTER  V 

The  Mohammedan  Conquest  of  Africa        .   55 

Advance  of  Mohammedanism  over  Persia,  Syria, 
Egypt,  Africa,  and  Spain  within  one  hundred  years 
after  the  Hejira — Africa  a  fruitful  home  for  Islam — 
The  condition  of  North  Africa  in  the  time  preceding 
the  advent  of  Islam — Christianity  in  North  Africa — 
Work  of  Tertullian,  Origen,  Cyprian,  and  Augustine 
in  North  Africa — Islam's  progress  over  Northern 
Africa — Desperate  struggle  of  Christianity — Abdal- 
lah — Zobeir — Akbah,  the  "  Conqueror  of  Africa" — 
Soni  Heli  Ischia,  the  patriot  negro — Gradual  control 
of  the  various  tribes  by  Mohammedanism — Steady  pro- 
cess in  conversion  but  not  in  civilisation — The  awful 
rule  of  the  Mahdi  and  his  successor  the  Khalifa,  the 
climax — Poverty  and  degradation  following  the  ad- 
vance through  North  Africa — Mohammedan  agents — 
Arab  merchants— Mixture  of  religious  and  commercial 


xviii  Contents 


PAGE 

character  in — Slaves  their  chief  business  concern — 
Methods  of  Mohammedan  advance  through  their 
means — Raiding  of  villages  reported  as  conversions — 
The  story  of  Tippu  Tib — Difficulty  of  distinguishing 
between  raiding  of  slave-dealers  and  the  establish- 
ment of  Mohammedanism  as  a  religion  in  Central 
Africa — Much  exaggeration  concerning  Mohammedan 
control  and  advance  in  Africa — South  of  the  line  of 
Mohammedan  states  the  control  largely  a  mercantile 
supremacy,  established  by  fire-arms — Suppression  of 
the  Arab  slave-trade  will  overthrow  Mohammedan 
control — Defeat  of  the  Khalifa  by  General  Kitchener 
a  death-blow. 

CHAPTER  VI 

Its  Missionary  Character    .         .        .        .74 

Mohammedanism  one  of  the  great  missionary  re- 
ligions of  the  world — Because  of  this  it  has  so  mani- 
festly conquered — In  Africa  Mohammedanism  has 
presented  one  of  the  greatest  outbreaks  of  mission- 
ary zeal  that  human  history  presents — Fundamental 
principles  of  Islam  which  necessitate  this  missionary 
effort — Mohammed's  claims  emphatic — His  followers 
under  obligation  to  force  them  on  the  world — The 
infidel  under  obligation  to  recognise  and  believe — 
The  forced  choice,  "  Believe,  pay  tribute,  or  die" — 
'The  recognition  of  equal  manhood  in  all  believers 
— The  principle  of  the  essential  equality  of  believers 
of  especial  avail  in  connection  with  the  advance  of 
Islam  in  Africa — Combination  of  mighty  influences 
at  work  to  facilitate  the  conversion  of  Africa  to 
Mohammedanism :  native  agents,  simple  methods, 
intolerant  zeal — The  University  of  Cairo — Moham- 
medanism furiously  fanatic  in  North  Africa — Less 


Contents  xix 


PAGE 


intolerant  in  Central  Africa — Death  penalty  for 
renegades — This  intolerance  an  essential  element  in 
Mohammedanism — Missionary  prayer  offered  every 
evening  in  the  University  at  Cairo. 

CHAPTER  VII 
Its  Political  Character       .         .         .         .92 

No  separation  between  Church  and  State  in  Moham- 
medanism— Mohammed's  teaching  and  example  a 
stimulus  to  his  followers  to  rule  as  well  as  preach,  to 
conquer  as  well  as  to  convert — "  Believe,  pay  tribute, 
or  die,"  involves  political  as  well  as  religious  ascend- 
ancy— The  divine  right  of  kings  emphatically  as- 
serted by  one  of  the  Mahdist  generals  in  a  letter  to 
Emin  Pasha — Attempt  to  proselytise  King  Mtesa — 
King  Msidi  and  the  Arabs — Close  connection  between 
trade  advantage  and  religious  advance — The  inter- 
twinings  of  the  slave-traffic  and  of  Mohammedan 
proselytism  close  and  intricate — In  Central  Africa 
the  Arab  is  first  a  slave-dealer,  then  a  Mohammedan 
— Mohammedan  efforts  to  control  the  king  and  king- 
dom of  Uganda — Elasticity  in  the  African  type  of 
Mohammedanism — Islam  seeks  control  rather  than 
conversion,  and  political  power  rather  than  individual 
change  of  heart  and  life,  in  Africa — Militancy  an 
essential  part  of  Islam — Paradise  the  reward  of  the 
Mohammedan  soldier  dying  in  battle — The  ferocity 
of  the  dervishes  largely  fanned  by  this  idea — The 
Turkish  army  composed  of  Mohammedans  and  sup- 
porting Mohammedanism — The  "Jihad,"  or  holy 
war,  a  conspicuous  feature  of  Mohammedanism 
throughout — The  prowess  of  the  Zulus — The  ferocity 
of  the  Masais — The  courage  and  endurance  of  the 
Eastern    Soudanese — The    story    of   Samudu — The 


xx  Contents 


atrocities  of  his  "holy  wars" — The  history  of  the 
Mahdist  uprising — The  Mahdi — Difficulty  of  distin- 
guishing in  these  outbreaks  of  apparently  religious 
zeal  what  is  purely  for  the  advance  of  Mohammedan- 
ism and  what  is  principally  for  the  support  of  slavery 
— Attempt  to  preserve  the  slave-trade  the  basis  of 
the  Arab  outbreak  in  the  Lake  Nyassa  region — The 
combination  of  religion  with  self-interest  and  the  in- 
spiration of  some  element  of  truth,  has  sent  Moham- 
med's followers  conquering  throughout  Central  Africa 
— Political  and  military  ascendancy  of  Mohammedan- 
ism in  Africa  must  be  destroyed,  if  civilisation  is  to 
conquer. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Its  Moral  and  Religious  Character        .  no 

Divorce  between  ethics  and  religion — Decrease  of 
the  population  of  North  Africa  under  Mohammedan 
control — Mohammedan  control  so  characterised  by 
injustice,  incapacity,  moral  degradation,  and  neglect 
of  the  proper  functions  of  government  that  life  has 
languished — Formal  profession  of  Mohammedanism 
accompanied  by  moral  degradation  in  many  respects 
throughout  many  of  the  tribes — Lack  of  financial  in- 
tegrity— The  "  Marabout  " — Slatin  Pasha's  picture  of 
Islam  as  illustrated  by  Mahdism — Hypocrisy  of  the  re- 
ligious leaders  of  Mohammedanism — Hypocrisy  of  the 
Mahdi — Of  the  Khalifa— Untruthfulness  one  of  the 
moral  characteristics  of  Mohammedanism  throughout 
— The  fast  of  Ramadan — A  degree  of  moral  restraint 
exerted  by  it — Moral  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
desert — Mohammedan  civilisation  south  of  the  desert 
— The  licentiousness  of  Mahdism  in  the  Eastern  Sou- 
dan— Unanimous  testimony  that  the  moral  character 


Contents  xxi 


PAGE 


of  Mohammedanism  throughout  the  Soudan  as 
throughout  North  Africa  is  unspeakably  bad — The 
moral  status  of  Islam  in  Africa  indicated  by  intem- 
perance, sensuality  in  the  strict  sense  of  that  term, 
and  slavery — The  confession  of  Sheik  Hassan  as  to 
his  indulgence  in  alcholic  drinks — The  Arabs  them- 
selves the  chief  importers  of  intoxicating  spirits  into 
Africa — Mohammedan  restraint  on  matters  compar- 
atively unimportant — Licence  in  lines  along  which  evil 
nature  runs  irresistibly — Islam  essentially  sensual — 
The  African  slave-trade  "the  open  sore  of  the 
world" — Mohammedanism  sanctions  the  slave-trade 
— Cataclysmic  desolation  wrought  by  the  slavers — 
The  question  of  the  forced  stoppage  of  the  slave-traffic 
a  difficult  one — Solution  seems  to  lie  in  easy  access 
for  foreign  influence  by  railways,  or  good  roadways, 
from  the  north  to  the  south  and  from  east  to  west, 
and  the  development  of  a  legitimate  commerce  among 
the  natives — The  power  of  the  Mohammedan  Arab 
in  Central  Africa  must  first  be  completely  broken — 
The  introduction  of  foreign  influence  will  gradually 
accomplish  this — Little  to  be  said  concerning  the 
higher  characteristics  of  Mohammedanism  as  a  re- 
ligion— Islam  in  Africa  of  the  earth,  earthy — Utter 
lack  of  spiritual  elevation  throughout  the  sixty  mill- 
ions of  Mohammedans  in  Africa. 

CHAPTER  IX 
The  Change  from  Paganism         .         .        .  137 

In  general  the  change  from  paganism  so  small  as  to 
amount  to  nothing — Even  the  Bedeyat  are  merely 
nominal  Moslems — The  negro  tribes  that  have  been 
won  to  allegiance  are  Moslem  in  little  more  than 
name — The  Bournous,  Fulahs,  Mandingoes,  and  their 


xxii  Contents 


PAGE 


profession  of  Islam — Nominal  conversion  of  King 
Mtesa  and  kingdom  to  Mohammedanism  —  The 
change  in  Central  Africa  little  more  than  a  superficial 
one — Indifference  of  nominal  Mohammedans  to  the 
demands  of  their  religion — Semi-civilisation  of  Mo- 
hammedans in  Africa  due  as  much  to  the  superior 
capacity  of  the  natives  whom  it  has  reached  as  to 
any  inherent  elevating  power  of  Islam  itself — The 
doctrine  of  one  God  hardly  grasped  by  the  Central 
African  Mohammedan — Fetichism — Charms — Mol- 
lahs,  or  Mohammedan  teachers,  and  the  making  of 
fetiches — Increasing  neglect  of  prayer  as  one  ad- 
vances southward — The  Arab  the  means  of  introduc- 
ing the  Swahili  language  throughout  Central  Africa 
— Education — Little  idea  of  general  education  in 
Islam — Earnest  Mohammedans  learn  Arabic  in  order 
to  read  the  Koran — Business  enterprise — Interchange 
of  sympathy  between  Mohammedan  communities 
stimulates  interchange  of  goods — One  point  in  which 
Mohammedanism  makes  marked  change  from  pagan- 
ism— Develops  self-respect  in  the  native,  so  far  as  its 
essential  ideas  really  possess  him — Theoretically,  and 
to  some  extent  in  fact,  Islam  makes  a  man  of  the 
pagan — Costume  an  indication — Tendency  towards 
fixedness  characterises  Mohammedanism  everywhere 
— The  possibility  of  further  advance  cut  off — The 
religious  order  of  the  Sanusiyah — "  Islam  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  weight  of  ills  under  which  Africa  is  suffer- 
ing." 

CHAPTER  X 
The  African  Type  of  Mohammedanism        .  160 

African  Mohammedanism  a  markedly  distinct  type 
— Is   characterised   by   aggressiveness — By   superfic- 


Contents  xxiii 


PAGE 


iality — By  a  lessened  zeal  in  proselytism — By  a  de- 
cided materialism — By  cruel  selfishness — Modern 
African  Mohammedanism  not  impregnable  to  the 
attack  of  civilisation  or  of  Christianity — Entrance  of 
Christianity  into  Morocco — The  form  of  Islam  in 
Africa  nearest  to  the  primitive  type. 

CHAPTER  XI 
The  Great  Solution 177 

A  vast  problem — The  civilisation  of  a  continent — 
European  and  Western  civilisation  must  take  the 
matter  in  hand — Mohammedanism  held  up  by  some 
as  preparatory  to  Christianity — Mohammedanism  in 
Africa  definitely  opposed  to  civilisation — Polygamy, 
easy  divorce,  and  slavery  sanctioned  by  Islam — Free- 
dom of  thought  and  private  judgment  in  religion 
annihilated  with  the  sword — Islam  a  hindrance  to 
real  civilisation — The  retrogression  of  Mohammed- 
anism in  Africa — Liberia  and  the  negro  colonisation 
of  Africa  a  factor  in  the  great  solution — Civilisation 
of  Africa  must  be  accomplished  by  Christianity  and 
commerce  hand  in  hand  —  Close  and  vital  con- 
junction of  the  two — ' '  Conquest  by  railroads  " — 
Means  more  for  Africa  than  for  any  other  part  of 
our  globe — The  railroad  in  Africa  the  preliminary 
solution  of  the  problem — Two  great  material  ques- 
tions concerning  Africa  are  how  to  create  wants,  and 
how  to  open  channels  of  trade — Livingstone's  idea: 
Open  Africa  for  commerce,  then  Christianity  will  go 
in — The  answer  to  the  problem,  so  far  as  the  immed- 
iate future  is  concerned,  lies  largely  in  the  sway  of 
such  nations  as  England  and  Germany — The  Brussels 
Conference  of  1876  is  for  Africa  a  point  from  which 
all  succeeding  history  must  date — The  Berlin  Confer- 


xxiv  Contents 


ence  of  1S84 — The  birth  of  the  Congo  Free  State- 
Evil  effects  of  Portuguese  control  in  Africa — German 
efforts  at  African  colonial  control  not  ideal — Bad 
effects  of  European  influence  in  Africa,  particularly 
in  connection  with  the  introduction  of  rum  and  fire- 
arms— The  new  Congo  railway — The  "Cape  to 
Cairo  "  railway — Something  more  than  commerce 
needed — Civilisation  of  avail  only  as  connected  with 
religion — The  twin  factor  in  the  great  solution  is 
religion — Christianity  emphatically  the  need  of  Africa 
— Christianity  must  antagonise  and  supplant  Mo- 
hammedanism in  Africa — Inevitable  conflict  of  Christ- 
ianity with  Islam  in  Africa  not  so  desperate  as  some 
may  think — Islam  in  Africa  comparatively  easy  for 
Christianity  to  overcome — The  slave-trade  already 
doomed — A  wide-spread  and  complex  commerce  be- 
gun and  must  enlarge — Christianity  already  has  laid 
its  grasp  upon  the  continent — The  great  solution  de- 
pends on  the  heroism  of  men  and  women  yet  to  offer 
themselves,  living  sacrifices. 


TAGE 


ISLAM  IN  AFRICA 


ISLAM  IN  AFRICA 


CHAPTER  I 


MOHAMMED 


ABOUT  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury Mohammed  appeared,  claiming  for 
himself  the  dignity  of  a  prophet  of  the  only 
and  true  God.  He  was  a  true  prophet ;  rather, 
he  was  a  prophet  of  some  truth.  God  sent  him 
forth  with  a  message.  He  delivered  it ;  but  he 
added  to  it  human  elements.  He  was  a  prophet ; 
but  not  in  that  full  meaning  of  the  term  under 
which  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  cried, 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  !  "  We  may  not  believe 
that  he  was  a  prophet  in  that  sense  in  which 
Mohammed  claimed  for  himself  the  honour — 
"  There  is  one  God  and  Mohammed  is  His 
i 


2  Islam  in  Africa 

prophet."  But  he  grasped  the  great  truth  of 
God  as  the  one  eternal  ruler  of  angels  and  men, 
and  he  uttered  that  truth  from  God  to  man. 
He  who  in  an  age  and  country  of  idolatry  saw- 
God  as  the  One  Supreme,  and  told  his  fellow 
men  thereof,  was  truly  called  of  God. 

The  idea  of  the  ONE  GOD— the  vision  of 
Him,  whether  merely  by  mental  grasp  or  in 
true  ecstasy — is  the  greatest  and  most  essential 
that  the  mind  of  man  can  receive.  With  it, 
man  can  mount  upon  the  summits  of  heaven, 
can  hold  communion  with  the  All  in  All.  With- 
out it,  man  wanders  in  mist  and  mire,  searching 
vainly  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  soul's  innate 
need.  This  was  the  sublime  thought,  or  vision, 
that  possessed  the  whole  being  of  Mohammed. 
Partly  from  tradition,  but  largely  from  hints 
given  in  the  Koran  itself,  we  may  gather  the 
story  of  his  vision  and  call.  He  was  about 
forty  years  of  age.  For  some  time  mental 
gloom,  absolute  melancholy,  had  been  pressing 
upon  him  terribly.  We  are  not  told  as  to  the 
lines  in  which  his  morbid  thoughts  ran  ;  but 
from  the  marked  result  of  that  crisis  in  his 
life  we  may  readily  infer  that  with  which  his 


Mohammed  3 

thoughts,  his  soul,  wrestled.  As  with  many 
another  less  strong,  less  fortunate,  groper  after 
truth,  the  man  was  pondering  deeply  those  vast 
problems  which  centre  around  the  idea  and  be- 
ing of  God.  He  was  grappling  with  sugges- 
tions of  truth  and  duty  that  he  could  hardly 
understand  and  from  which  deeply  he  shrank. 
It  seems  to  have  been  his  custom,  as  with  some 
of  his  countrymen,  to  spend  a  certain  month  in 
retirement  and  meditation.  At  an  hour's  walk 
from  Mecca,  there  is  a  mountain,  "  a  huge  bar- 
ren rock,"  wherein  is  a  cave  in  which  Moham- 
med spent  the  days  of  that  fateful  time  of 
seclusion  about  the  year  610  A.D.  In  the  bald, 
ghostly  solitude  of  that  desolate  rock,  with 
fasting  and  prayer,  under  the  pressure  of  his 
deep  melancholy,  in  circumstances  most  favour- 
able to  a  recurrence  of  his  physical  malady, 
there  came  the  vision  and  the  call.  It  was  in 
the  middle  of  the  night  that  the  angel  Gabriel 
appeared  to  him,  so  he  claimed1:  "  Verily  we 
sent  down  the  Koran  in  the  night  of  al  Kadr. 
And  what  shall  make  thee  understand  how  ex- 

1  Sale's  Koran,  chapter  xcvii.     We  assume  that  the  revela- 
tion of  the  Koran  and  the  call  to  service  are  identical. 


4  Islam  in  Africa 

cellcnt  the  night  of  al  Kadr  is?  The  night  of 
al  Kadr  is  better  than  a  thousand  months. 
Therein  do  the  angels  descend  and  the  spirit 
Gabriel  also,  by  the  permission  of  their  Lord, 
with  His  decrees  concerning  every  matter.  It 
is  peace  until  the  rising  of  the  morn." 

Mohammed  claimed  that  Gabriel  held  be- 
fore him  a  silken  scroll,1  and  said,  "  Read."  He 
could  not — probably  he  had  never  learned  to 
read.  But  in  some  way  the  words  from  that 
scroll  were  graven  on  his  heart.  The  voice  said, 
"Cry."2  Twice  the  call  came  ;  and  twice  Mo- 
hammed struggled  against  the  call.  He  was 
pressed  sorely,  "  as  if  a  fearful  weight  had  been 
laid  upon  him."  For  the  third  time  the  voice 
called,  "Cry."  And  he  said,  "What  shall  I 
cry  ?  "  There  came  the  answer,  "  Cry — in  the 
name  of  thy  Lord." 

The  prophet  had  received  his  call — trem- 
blingly he  went  forth  to  fulfil  it.  In  deep  dis- 
tress he  came  to  his  wife  Khadija  and  told  her 
of  what  had    occurred.     True  woman   as  she 


1  Koran,  ch.  xcvi. 

2  Essay  on  Islam  by   Emanuel  Deutsch,  in  Mohammed  and 
Mohammedanism,  R.  Bosworth  Smith,  page  306. 


Mohammed  5 

was,  she  yielded  to  him  as  prophet  of  God. 
Even  yet  he  could  not  force  himself  to  his 
mission.  He  was  on  the  point  of  seeking  death. 
It  is  supposed  that  this  state  of  anguish  lasted 
from  two  to  three  years.  Again  came  one  of 
his  strange  attacks,  in  which,  as  he  claimed,  the 
voice  of  God  said,1  "  O  thou  covered,  arise  and 
preach,  and  magnify  thy  Lord."  Henceforth 
there  was  no  interruption  and  no  doubt ;  he 
knew  and  obeyed  his  call. 

Dr.  Sprenger  claims  a  that  the  answer  to  the 
medical  question  as  to  Mohammed's  physical 
condition  would  give  the  key  to  the  whole 
problem  of  Islam.  We  can  hardly  agree  with 
so  material  a  conception  of  a  great  truth  and  a 
great  prophet.  But  it  is  to  be  clearly  recog- 
nised that  this  physical  element  occupies  a  large 
place  in  any  proper  explanation  of  the  phe- 
nomenon. Mohammed  was  of  an  excessively 
nervous  temperament. 

"  The  excitement  under  which  he  composed  the 
more  poetical  suras  of  the  Koran  was  so  great— his 
lips  were  quivering  and  his  hands  shaking  whilst 

1  Koran,  chapter  lxxiv. 

2  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  xvi.,  547,  Note  2. 


6  Islam  in  Africa 

he  received  the  inspirations.  When  he  was  taken 
ill  he  sobbed  like  a  woman  in  hysterics.  During 
the  battle  of  Bedr  his  nervous  excitement  seemed 
to  have  bordered  on  frenzy.  He  suffered  from 
hallucinations  ;  his  fits  were  preceded  by  great 
depression  of  spirits  ;  his  face  was  clouded  ;  they 
were  ushered  in  by  coldness  of  the  extremities  and 
shivering.  He  shook  as  if  he  suffered  from  ague 
and  called  out  for  covering  ;  his  mind  was  in  a 
most  excited  state.  If  the  attack  proceeded  be- 
yond this  stage  his  eyes  became  fixed  and  staring, 
and  the  motions  of  his  head  convulsive  and  auto- 
matic. At  length  perspiration  broke  out,  which 
covered  his  face  in  large  drops  ;  and  with  this 
ended  the  attack."  x 

Whether  these  attacks  were  epilepsy,  or  cata- 
lepsy, or  some  severe  form  of  hysteria,  we  can- 
not now  know ;  the  answer  lies  hidden  in  the 
mysteries  of  the  nervous  system  of  man.  Psy- 
chic investigation  of  later  years  opens  wonders 
which  we  cannot  define  or  understand.  All 
that  we  can  say  is  that  there  was  some  close 
connection  between  this  ecstasy,  or  epilepsy,  or 
whatever  it  may  have  been,  and  the  claimed 
inspiration  of  the  great  prophet.  He  saw  vis- 
ions ;  he  heard  voices  ;  these  experiences  were 

1  Dr.  William  Smith's  edition  of  Gibbon's  Rome.  Notes 
quoted  from  Dr.  Sprenger,  chapters  l.-lii. 


Mohammed  7 

the  assurance  for  him,  and  for  his  followers, 
which  with  mighty  enthusiasm  carried  them 
over  the  world. 

The  circumstances  into  which  he  was  born 
were  such  as  to  favour  greatly  his  mission. 
There  seems  to  have  been  a  reaction  in  Arabia, 
about  that  time,  from  idolatry.  The  Hanifs,  a 
sect  of  Arabs  to  which  Mohammed  belonged, 
were  vaguely  rejecting  polytheism.  Also,  Ju- 
daism was  pressing  upon  that  region  ;  and  a 
corrupt  form  of  Christianity  presented  itself  to 
Mohammed  in  his  youth.  The  political  condi- 
tion of  Arabia  favoured  his  mission  ;  the  un- 
conquered,  but  divided,  families  and  tribes  of 
Arabia  presented  possibilities  of  combination 
and  subjection  by  one  of  their  own  race.  Es- 
pecially fortunate  was  it  for  Mohammed  that 
Medina  seems  to  have  been  peculiarly  prepared 
for  him.  When  the  prophet  was  forced  to  leave 
Mecca,  he  found  in  Medina  not  simply  a  place 
of  refuge,  but  a  readiness  to  support  him.  He 
soon  raised  an  army  with  which  to  make  coun- 
ter-attack upon  Mecca.  He  was  forced  into 
warfare.  A  mighty  enthusiasm  enabled  him  to 
triumph  at  the  first  and  critical  battle.    Hence- 


8  Islam  in  Africa 

forth  his  pathway  was  clearly  marked  out  and, 
usually,  triumphant. 

One  thing  more  we  must  notice :  the  "  con- 
trast between  his  reverent  and  meditative  youth, 
and  his  fierce  and  libidinous  old-age."  There 
are  those  who  claim  that  Mohammed  was  an 
impostor  from  the  start ;  but  we  have  made  it 
plain  that  we  are  not  of  that  number.  There 
are  those  who  assert  that  the  man,  sincere  at 
the  start,  became  determinedly  false  and  vicious 
when  he  took  the  sword  into  his  hands  and 
entered  upon  his  career  of  conquest — a  sudden 
and  complete  moral  change.  We  would  make 
it  clear  that  we  are  not  of  this  class  of  his  crit- 
ics— though  most  of  his  later  biographers  in- 
cline to  the  opinion  that  he  was,  more  or  less, 
a  conscious  impostor  at  the  end.  Again,  there 
are  those  who  believe  that  he  was  a  hero 
throughout,  morally.  They  assert  that  he  was 
sincere  in  his  belief  in  himself  and  throughout 
his  command  over  his  followers.  They  belittle 
the  evidences  of  evil  in  his  character  and  life. 
R.  Bosworth  Smith,  Thomas  Carlyle,  E.  A. 
Freeman,  more  or  less  closely  approach  this,  in 
their  statements  of  the  moral  problem  presented 


Mohammed  9 

in  the  life  of  Mohammed.  We  would  separate 
ourselves  from  this  class  of  critics,  for  reasons 
now  to  be  given. 

It  is  hard  to  see  how  one  can  now  read  the 
story  of  Mohammed's  entrance  upon  his  mis- 
sion, can  see  him  trembling  and  hesitating  on 
the  brink  of  what  was  for  him  an  awful  chasm, 
can  go  with  him  historically  through  the  early 
years  of  his  prophetic  work,  without  being 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  this  wild  and 
forceful  spokesman  for  God  believed  in  himself 
and  his  message  and  mission  with  that  deep 
sincerity  which  alone  can  carry  a  man  through 
such  experiences  as  he  was  forced  to  enter. 
Whatever  may  be  one's  opinion  as  to  the  di- 
vine authority  of  Mohammed  and  his  mission 
at  the  start,  no  one  can  successfully  deny  that 
the  man  then  thought  himself  the  prophet  of 
God  and  that  the  teachings  that  he  presented 
were  the  truth  of  God.  Mohammed  started  on 
his  mission  with  a  deep  and  intense  sincerity : 
"  Though  the  sun  at  my  right  hand  and  the 
moon  at  my  left  were  to  command  me  to  give 
up  this  matter,  I  would  not  give  it  up."  ! 

1  Quoted  by  Dr.  Henry  P.  Smith  in   The  Bible  and  Islam, 


io  Islam  in  Africa 

Now  we  would  claim  that  this  sincerity  con- 
tinued throughout.  And  yet  startling  decline, 
moral  contradiction  in  an  ordinary  man  abso- 
lutely incomprehensible,  characterised  the  later 
years  of  his  life.  In  him  is  presented  the  awful 
profanity  of  a  man  who  would  call  upon  God 
to  justify  his  sensuality,  who  would  bring  down 
God  in  writing  to  establish  unrighteousness. 
Surely  never  has  high  mission  been  so  prosti- 
tuted. Of  the  one  hundred  and  fourteen  suras 
in  the  Koran,  more  were  written  to  justify 
Mohammed's  personal  ambition,  unrighteous- 
ness, lust,  and  sensuality  than  some  of  his 
biographers  would  care  to  allow.  Using  his  au- 
thority as  spokesman  for  God,  he  dared  impi- 
ously to  justify  and  establish  deeds  of  the  devil. 

Yet  throughout  the  worst  of  his  moral  degra- 
dation he  seems  to  have  appealed  freely  to  the 
Supreme  Being,  and  to  have  rested  confidently 
upon  his  own  integrity.  "  We  are  only  two," 
said  his  trembling  companion  to  Mohammed, 
at  a  time  when  his  pursuers  were  seeking  eagerly 

p.  15,  Scribners,  1897.  See  his  estimate  of  Mohammed's 
character:  "In  this  persistence  in  his  calling  Mohammed  is 
not  unworthy  of  being  compared  with  the  Old-Testament 
prophets,"  p  15. 


Mohammed  n 

for  him  as  he  was  hid  in  the  cave.  "  There  is 
a  third,"  said  Mohammed  ;  "  it  is  God  Him- 
self." That,  though  before  the  period  of  his 
moral  inconsistency,  was  the  characteristic  of 
his  life  throughout.  "  I  seek  refuge  in  the 
light  of  Thy  countenance  alone  " — that  seemed 
ever  his  thought.  Even  in  the  overwhelming 
pressure  of  the  death  hour,  when  men  most 
clearly  reveal  their  true  selves,  whatever  they 
may  have  seemed  to  others  in  previous  years, 
he  evidenced  the  same  majestic  assurance  with 
which  he  began.  He  believes  that  God  has 
spoken  to  him  ;  he  is  assured  that  what  he  has 
spoken  for  God  is  divinely  authorised  ;  he  be- 
lieves that  "  there  is  one  God  and  Mohammed 
is  His  prophet." 

We  would  not  belittle  the  moral  weakness 
of  the  man.  Dr.  Ellinwood,  in  this  connection, 
well  presents  the  truth  that  "the  test  of  char- 
acter lies  in  its  trend."  The  trend  of  that 
man's  character  was,  during  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  life,  definitely,  toward  the  bad.  Nothing 
can  be  more  clear  than  that  the  man  de- 
scended into  sin  so  gross  and  unrighteousness 
so  terrible  that,  if  these  isolated  acts  certainly 


12  Islam  in  Africa 

in  dicatea  permanent  condition  of  will,  he  be- 
came bad  indeed.  Yet  we  cannot  reconcile 
with  this  the  evidences  of  his  continued  self- 
assurance  in  any  way  other  than  by  supposing 
that  this  strange  man,  unaccountably  catching 
gleams  of  divine  glory  in  moments  of  epileptic 
frenzy,  is  not  to  be  judged  fully  as  other  men. 
There  seem  to  have  been  possibilities  of  moral 
contradiction  in  him  that  we  cannot  allow  for 
an  ordinary  man.  We  must  simply  accept  the 
moral  contradiction :  he  was  good,  yet  bad ; 
he  was  sincere,  yet  sensual.  He  must  have 
thought,  in  the  wild  fancies  of  his  imagined 
communion  with  the  divine,  that  God  author- 
ised the  foul  adultery  of  his  marriage  with  the 
Egyptian  Mary.  In  his  mental  and  physical 
constitution  were  possibilities  of  moral  incon- 
sistency such  as  do  not,  in  ordinary  men,  exist 
to  like  degree.  Most  men  can  persuade  them- 
selves, at  times,  that  doubtful  wrong  is  really 
right ;  he  was  a  man  the  extravagances  of 
whose  nature  were  such  that,  under  the  temp- 
tation of  lust  and  in  the  moral  enervation  of 
power  and  success,  he  could  really  believe  that 
God  rebuked  him  for  undue  continence. 


Mohammed  13 

In  Mohammed  we  have  the  picture  of  a  man 
grasping  a  great  truth,  giving  himself  up  to  it 
completely,  heroically.  We  behold  a  character 
in  which  enthusiasm  controls ;  working  in  a 
bodily  frame  in  which  some  form  of  nervous 
excitation  produced  trance-like  experiences  in 
which  visions  and  voices  were  perceived.  Tak- 
ing the  great  truth  as  evidence  that  these  epi- 
leptic intimations  were  divine,  struggling  for  a 
something  that  he  knew  to  be  right,  forced  by 
circumstances  into  a  life  of  warfare  and  politi- 
cal management,  in  increasing  age  and  power 
yielding  evermore  to  the  lower  passions  and 
ambitions  within  him,  in  a  strangely  disordered 
soul  identifying  his  own  desires  and  ambitions 
with  the  divine  will,  throughout  he  produced 
what  he  forced  others  to  think  were  real  revel- 
ations from  God,  even  to  the  justification  of 
his  own  evil.  He  lay  in  that  border  land  of 
psychical  and  spiritual  experience  wherein  a 
strong,  yet  disordered,  intellect  seeks  to  obey 
God  and  yet  gratify  self — at  bottom  sincere 
throughout,  yet  terribly  under  the  control  of 
the  evil  within  himself.  In  it  all  we  have  a 
startling  illustration  of  the  possibilities  of  the 


1 4  Islam  in  Africa 

co-existence  of  the  devilish  and  the  divine  in  a 
man.  He  was  so  strangely  great  that  a  moral 
contradiction,  impossible  to  the  same  degree  in 
an  ordinary  man,  lay  hid  within  his  soul. 


CHAPTER  II 


ISLAM 


THE  word  "  Islam  "  has  two  meanings  :  one 
refers  to  the  religious  system  of  Moham- 
med, the  other  to  the  Mohammedan  world. 
Islam  means  the  doctrine,  or  the  disciples,  of 
Mohammed.  Let  us  look  at  each  of  these 
meanings. 

The  Koran  is  the  Bible  of  the  Mohammed- 
ans ;  an  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice 
from  which  there  can  be  no  appeal.1  It  is  not 
the  only  rule  of  life  2 :  Mohammedan  tradition 
is  of  great  authority,'  and  the  successors  to  the 
leadership  of  the  great  prophet  have  done 
something  towards   determining  doctrine  and 


1  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  ii.,  117. 

2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  v.,  137. 

3  In  general,  on  the   Koran  and   Mohammedan   tradition. 
See  Faith  of  Islam,  by  E.  Sell,  ch.  i.  and  ii. 

15 


1 6  Islam  in  Africa 

duty.  But  in  general  the  Koran  is  the  par- 
ticular and  permanent  message  from  God  to 
man,  through  the  greatest  and  most  favoured 
of  His  servants,  Mohammed.  Each  word, 
each  letter,  was  directly  inspired :  an  extreme 
theory  of  verbal  inspiration  obtains  acceptance 
throughout  the  Mohammedan  world. 

The  book  is  a  wonderful  one,  not  so  much  in 
its  contents  as  in  its  origin,  its  history  and  its 
influence.  The  faithful  believe  that  the  orig- 
inal text  existed  in  heaven.  An  angel  brought 
it  down  piece  by  piece  to  the  prophet ;  he  in 
turn  proclaimed  it  to  the  world.  It  is  not 
large — somewhat  smaller  than  the  Christian's 
Bible ;  but  it  will  seem  long  to  most  non-Mo- 
hammedans who  attempt  to  read  it  through. 
Chapter  by  chapter  it  was  revealed,  so  they 
claim,  often  in  direct  connection  with  one  of 
the  startling  fits  of  nervous  frenzy  to  which 
the  prophet  was  subject.  Towards  the  end 
of  his  life  these  revelations  seemed  to  come 
suspiciously  in  connection  with  the  prophet's 
political  needs  or  personal  desires  ;  he  would 
find  himself  so  placed  that  the  authority  of 
God  was  needed   to   sustain   his   position,  so 


Islam  17 

most  opportunely  a  revelation  would  be  made 
to  fit  the  occasion.  While  some  of  the  suras 
are  evidently  wrought  in  the  fierce  fire  of 
frenzy,  it  is  quite  as  evident  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  book  "  is  undoubtedly  the  result 
of  deliberation  "  ;  many  passages  are  based  on 
purely  intellectual  reflection.1  But  however  it 
may  have  originated,  Mohammedans  the  world 
over  praise  it  as  a  book  beyond  compare. 
Mohammed  himself  claimed  that  the  only 
miracle  in  connection  with  his  assertions,  the 
only  miraculous  proof  needed  for  his  mission, 
was  the  Koran.  Some  Arabic  scholars,  not 
Mohammedans,  have  said  that  in  the  original 
language  it  is  indeed  poetical  and  impressive ; 
to  most  of  those  who  read  it  in  a  translation 
it  will  seem  exceedingly  uninteresting  and 
uninspiring. 

We  are  told  that  Mohammed  dictated  these 
"  revelations "  to  a  scribe  ;  for  it  is  at  least 
doubtful  as  to  whether  or  not  the  great  prophet 
was  able  to  read  and  write.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  the  chapters  of  the  Koran  "  existed  only 
in  scattered  fragments,  on  bits  of  stone,  leather, 

1  Encyclopedia  Britannica^  xvi.,  598. 


18  Islam  in  Africa 

and  bones  "  '  ;  but  we  may  assume  that  the 
memories  of  his  adoring  disciples  were,  chiefly, 
the  immaterial  parchment  on  which  were  as- 
cribed his  assertions  as  to  the  words  of  God.  It 
is  said  that  soon  after  the  prophet's  death  there 
were  some  who  could  recite  the  whole  Koran, 
as  they  then  understood  it,  without  an  error.1 
But  the  final  establishment  of  the  canon  was 
made  during  the  caliphate  of  Omar,  and  is  sup- 
posed, with  great  probability,  to  contain  the 
very  words  that  were  delivered  by  the  prophet. 

This  is  the  book  that  has,  largely,  made  Mo- 
hammedanism. Two  hundred  millions  of  peo- 
ple, more  or  less,  reverence  it  even  now  as  the 
very  word  of  God.  They  pore  over  its  pages, 
over  each  letter  therein,  with  a  worshipful  at- 
tention that  may  be  indeed  sometimes  a  rever- 
ent heart's  holy  and  acceptable  offering  unto 
the  Supreme  Being  above. 

There  is  a  translation  of  a  letter  written  by 
the  Sheik-ul-Islam  to  a  German  convert,  which 
contains  a  statement  of  Mohammedan  doctrine 
from  the  highest  authority  in  the  world,  and 
may  be  taken  by  us  as  an  authentic  summary 

1  Encyclopedia  of Missions ,  ii.,  117. 


Islam  19 

of  the  faith  of  modern  Islam.     The  following 
is  a  condensation  of  its  statements  1  : 

"  Conversion  to  Islamism  demands  no  religious 
formality,  and  hope  depends  upon  the  authorisa- 
tion of  no  one.  It  is  sufficient  to  believe  and  pro- 
claim one's  belief."  "  Islamism  has  for  its  basis, 
faith  in  the  unity  of  God,  and  in  the  mission  of  His 
dearest  servant  Mohammed" — "to  avow  it  in  words, 
'  there  is  only  one  God,  and  Mohammed  is  His 
prophet.'  "  "  He  who  makes  this  profession  of 
faith  becomes  a  Mussulman,  without  having  need 
of  the  consent  or  approbation  of  anyone."  "  Be- 
lievers are  all  brothers." 

"  Man  was  created  out  of  nothing  to  adore  his 
Creator."  "  God — in  according  to  certain  human 
beings  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  in  so  revealing  the 
true  religion,  has  overwhelmed  His  servants  with 
blessings."  "  The  book  of  God  which  descended 
last  from  heaven  is  the  sacred  Koran,  the  unchange- 
able teachings  of  which  will  last  even  to.  the  day 
of  the  last  judgment."  "  The  first  of  the  prophets 
was  Adam  ;  and  the  last,  Mohammed."  "  Between 
these  two,  many  others  have  lived  ;  their  number 
is  known  only  to  God.  The  greatest  of  all  is  Mo- 
hammed .  After  him  come  Jesus,  Moses  (and 
others)." 

"  The  day  of  the  last  judgment.  The  dead  will 
rise    again — to   render   their    accounts  ;    the   elect 

1  The  New  York  Independent,  xl.,  2045,  p.  1.  See  also 
Sell's  Faith  of  Islam. 


20  Islam  in  Africa 

will  be  sent  to  Paradise  ;  those  condemned,  to 
Hell." 

"  Also  it  is  necessary,  as  an  article  of  faith,  to 
attribute  all  good  and  all  evil  to  the  providence  of 
God." 

"  But  to  be  a  perfect  believer,  it  is  necessary  to 
perform  certain  duties  ;  to  pray  God — and  to  avoid 
falling  into  such  sins  as  murder,  robbery,  etc.  Be- 
sides the  profession  of  faitli — a  good  Mussulman 
ought  to  pray  five  times  a  day,  distribute  to  the 
poor  a  fortieth  part  of  his  goods  every  year,  fast 
during  the  month  of  Ramazan,  and  make  once  in 
his  life  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca." 

"  Faith  annuls  all  sin.  He  who  is  converted  to 
Islamism  becomes  as  innocent  as  when  first  born, 
and  he  is  responsible  only  for  the  sins  committed 
after  his  conversion." 

"  A  sinner  who  repents  and  asks  God's  for- 
giveness, obtains  pardon.  Only  the  rights  of  his 
neighbour  are  an  exception  to  this  rule  ;  for  the 
servant  of  God  who  cannot  obtain  justice  in  this 
world  reclaims  his  right  at  the  day  of  judgment, 
and  God,  who  is  just,  will  then  compel  the  op- 
pressor to  make  restitution  to  the  oppressed.  To 
avoid  this  responsibility,  the  only  means  is  to  get 
acquittance  from  your  neighbour  whom  you  have 
wronged." 

"  In  the  Mussulman's  religion  there  is  no  clergy. 
In  all  religious  acts  there  is  no  mediator  between 
God  and  His  servants.  Only  the  accomplish- 
ment of  certain  religious  ceremonies,  such  as  the 


Islam  21 

prayers  on  Friday  at  Beiram,  is  subordinated  to 
the  will  of  the  Caliph,  of  the  prophet,  and  the 
Sultan  of  Mussulmans.  Since  the  arrangement  of 
ceremonies  for  Islamism  is  one  of  his  sacred  attri- 
butes, obedience  to  his  orders  is  one  of  the  most 
important  religious  duties." 

"  One  of  the  things  to  which  every  Mussulman 
ought  to  be  very  attentive  is  righteousness  in  char- 
acter. Vices  such  as  pride,  presumption,  egotism, 
and  obstinacy  do  not  become  a  Mussulman.  To 
revere  the  great,  and  to  compassionate  the  insig- 
nificant, are  precepts  of  Islamism." 

We  have  thus  given,  with  considerable  ful- 
ness, the  essential  points  in  a  remarkable  sum- 
mary of  a  world-wide  faith.  Fullest  reading  of 
Mohammedan  literature  will,  we  are  persuaded 
from  personal  experience,  give  nothing  more 
favourable  ;  though  there  will  probably  be  some 
change  of  proportion  and  emphasis  of  doctrine 
as  the  result.  The  letter  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam 
was  written  to  a  convert  from  Christianity,  and 
was  "  evidently  intended  to  make  as  favorable 
an  impression  on  Christians  as  possible." 

We  should  notice  that  in  Mohammedan 
thought  the  idea  of  the  one  God  stands  out 
as  overwhelming.  Read  the  second  sura  of 
the  Koran : 


22  Islam  in  Africa 

"  God  !  there  is  no  God  but  He  ;  the  living, 
the  self-subsisting  ;  neither  slumber  nor  sleep 
seizeth  Him.  To  Him  belongeth  whatsoever  is  in 
heaven  and  on  earth.  Who  is  he  that  can  inter- 
cede with  Him,  but  through  His  good  pleasure  ? 
He  knoweth  that  which  is  past,  and  that  which  is 
to  come  unto  them,  and  they  shall  not  compre- 
hend anything  of  His  knowledge,  but  so  far  as  He 
pleaseth.  His  throne  is  extended  over  heaven  and 
earth,  and  the  preservation  of  both  is  no  burden 
unto  Him.     He  is  the  high  and  the  mighty." 

Throughout  that  celebrated  sura,  undignified 
by  the  title  "  The  Cow,"  there  is  a  presenta- 
tion of  the  majesty  and  authority  of  God  which 
is  indeed  impressive. 

To  obtain  a  correct  idea  of  the  emphasis  and 
relative  importance  of  certain  doctrines  and  du- 
ties in  Islam,  we  should  also  notice  the  stress 
laid  upon  prayer.  "  Prayer  is  better  than 
sleep  "  were  the  words  that  Mohammed's  slave 
Billal  was  accustomed  to  use  to  call  the  faith- 
ful to  prayer  at  the  stated  times.  The  phrase 
is  repeated  every  day  throughout  the  Moham- 
medan world.1  The  call  to  prayer  five  times  a 
day,  wherever   the    good    Mohammedan    may 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  372. 


Islam  23 

chance  to  be,  and  in  spite  of  all  conspicuous- 
ness,  is  like  a  seal  upon  soul  and  body — fasten- 
ing the  believer  to  Islam  and  evidencing  the 
divine  ownership  before  man. 

It  has  been  well  observed  that  "  the  radical 
fact  about  a  religion  is  the  way  in  which  it  grap- 
ples with  the  human  will."  '  Absolute  submis- 
sion of  the  will  to  God  is  the  fundamental 
idea  of  Mohammedanism.  Indeed,  the  word 
"Islam  "  originally  meant  submission. 

Notice  another  feature  greatly  emphasised  ; 
easy  requirement  of  doctrine,  united  with  strict 
assertion  of  practical  religious  duties.  It  is 
easy  to  say  "  There  is  only  one  God  and  Mo- 
hammed is  His  prophet  "  ;  all  that  the  believer 
now  has  to  do  is  to  keep  the  five  observances — 
creed  recital,  prayer,  fasting,  almsgiving,  pil- 
grimage. With  little  stress  laid  upon  the  in- 
tellectual and  spiritual  elements,  and  large 
emphasis  and  proportion  given  to  the  practical, 
the  system  is  admirably  adapted  to  prevail 
among  men. 

Further,  the  summary  of  doctrine  which  we 
have  presented  gives  but  little  idea  of  the  empha- 

1  Shall  Islam  Rule  Africa?  Rev.  L.  C.  Barnes,  23. 


24  Islam  in  Africa 

sis  with  which  the  hope  of  Paradise  is  pressed 
upon  believers  as  an  anticipation  and  a  motive. 
"  All  the  acts  of  soldiers  in  holy  war,  even  their 
sleep,  are  considered  as  prayer."  "  The  gate 
to  Paradise  lies  between  drawn  swords."  In 
this,  largely,  lies  the  secret  of  the  marvellous 
military  success  of  the  Mohammedan  con- 
querors. But  Paradise  is  represented  in  de- 
scriptions so  material,  even  coarse,  that  it  is 
hard  to  see  how  disembodied  spirits  can  find 
much  satisfaction  therein. 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  summary  presented 
above  there  is  little  or  no  suggestion  of  that 
fatalism  which  is  usually  supposed  to  be  the 
"  central  tenet  of  Islam."  It  seems  to  be  true 
that  the  practical  result  of  Islamic  doctrine  is 
a  fatalistic  tendency  throughout  Mohammed- 
anism. All  that  happens  is  ordered  by  God. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  very  fact  that  the  act 
of  prayer  is  so  largely  emphasised  would  seem 
to  modify  or  contradict  such  fatalism.  We 
may  assert  "  the  absolute  fallacy  of  the  notion 
that  fatalism  is  a  doctrine  of  the  Koran  ;  it 
teaches  a  very  contrary  doctrine."  '     "  Moham- 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  289. 


Islam  25 

med  .  .  .  was  not  what  we  should  call  a 
fatalist."  '  "  Mohammed's  whole  system  is  one 
of  faith,  built  on  hope  and  fear."  a  Theoretically, 
Islam  may  not  be  fatalistic  ;  but  practically,  in 
large  measure,  it  is. 

"  As  the  system  became  more  complex  and  dog- 
matic, men  lost  the  sense  of  the  nearness  of  God. 
He  became  an  unapproachable  being.  A  harsh, 
unfeeling  Fate  took  the  place  of  the  Omnipotent 
Ruler.  It  is  this  dark  fatalism  which,  whatever 
the  quran  may  teach  on  the  subject,  is  the  ruling 
principle  in  all  Muslim  communities."3 

It  is  a  misconception  on  the  part  of  many 
that  Islam  is  in  complete  opposition  to  Christ- 
ianity. On  the  contrary,  as  can  readily  be  seen 
from  what  has  been  here  presented,  there  are 
many  hopeful  points  of  contact.  Indeed,  so 
far  as  doctrine  is  concerned,  the  one  central 
point  of  opposition  is  in  a  definition  of  the  unity 
of  God  which  excludes  the  Christian  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity.     Closely  connected    with   this 

1  The  Bible  and  Islam,  Dr.  Henry  F.  Smith  (Scribners, 
1897),  140,  155. 

2  Deutsch,  quoted  by  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the 
Negro  Race,  289. 

3  Sell,  Faith  of  Islam,  240. 


26  Islam  in  Africa 

"  heresy  "  are  the  doctrines  of  the  authority 
of  Mohammed  and  the  inspiration  of  the 
Koran.  But,  had  it  not  been  that  Mohammed 
evidently  got  a  wrong  idea  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  concerning  Christ,  derived  from  the 
gross  doctrinal  statements  of  a  corrupt  form  of 
Christianity,  it  is  hard  to  say  what  there  might 
not  have  been  of  identification  between  the 
reform  which  he  headed  and  the  religion  which 
Jesus  Christ  had  established  before  him.  Dr. 
Dollinger  says,  "  Islam  must  be  considered  at 
bottom  a  Christian  heresy."  J 

But  in  thus  presenting  certain  essential  facts 
and  features  of  the  doctrines  of  Mohammedan- 
ism, we  would  not  be  understood  as  taking  that 
11  rose-coloured  "  view  of  Islam  that  some  recent 
writers  have  presented.  "  Canon  Taylor,  in  a 
little  volume  entitled  Leaves  from  an  Egyp- 
tian Note  Book,  has  drawn  a  picture  of  Islam 
which  Omar  and  Othman  would  hardly  have 
recognised."2  Mr.  R.  Bosworth  Smith  has 
written  a  volume  with  the   evident  intent   of 

1  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  ii.,  113. 

2  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity,    F.    F.    Ellinwood, 
D.D.,  212. 


Islam  27 

showing  that  Mohammedanism  is  not  so  black 
as  it  has  been  painted — indeed,  that  it  is  almost 
white.  Fairness  to  Mr.  Smith,  however,  re- 
quires us  to  state  that,  when  he  found  what 
misuse  was  made  by  Canon  Taylor  of  the 
favourable  presentation  of  Islam  in  MoJiammed 
and  Mohammedanism,  he  saw  and  acted  upon 
the  need  of  giving  due  emphasis  to  the  other 
side  of  the  question,  thus  to  some  degree 
counteracting  the  effect  of  the  partial  pre- 
sentation made  in  his  book.1  Dr.  Blyden  is,  at 
times,  strongly  inclined  to  eulogy  in  describing 
Islam.  But  however  one  may  think  concerning 
the  authoritative  doctrinal  statements  made  by 
the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  it  is  certainly  true  that  there 
are  essential  evils,  sanctioned  by  the  Koran,  in 
Mohammedan  law :  polygamy,  easy  divorce, 
concubinage,  slavery,  the  death  penalty  to  the 
renegade  from  the  faith.2  Whoever  would 
glorify  Islam  must  apologise  for  certain  social 
evils  inherent  in  the  system — like  slow  poison, 
paralysing  the  whole  body. 

1  Oriental  Religions   and   Christianity,    F.    F.    Ellinwood, 
D.D.,  217. 

2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  7S4,  785. 


28  Islam  in  Africa 

Thus  much  we  have  been  obliged  to  say  con- 
cerning Islam  as  a  system  of  doctrine — in  order 
to  understand  what  it  is  that  has  made,  and  now 
characterises,  Islam  as  the  body  of  disciples, 
particularly  as  existing  in  that  part  of  the  world 
on  which  our  attention  must  be  concentrated. 
For  this  form  of  religion,  originating  at  Mecca, 
has  extended  westwardly  across  Africa  to  the 
Atlantic,  and  easterly  to  Northwestern  China, 
embracing  men  of  all  the  known  races  ;  and 
embracing  them  not  as  individuals  but  as  "  com- 
munities,— whole  nations  and  tribes, — weaving 
itself  into  their  national  life  and  giving  colour  to 
their  political  and  social  as  well  as  ecclesiastical 
existence."  '  It  is  estimated  that  there  are  over 
two  hundred  million  adherents.2  Throughout 
the  twelve  hundred  years  since  the  Hejira,  in 
spite  of  temporary  and  local  relapses,  Moham- 
medanism has  been  making,  on  the  whole,  con- 
stant and  startling  advance.  The  first  century 
and  a  quarter  after  the  death  of  Mohammed 
was  a  period  of  unexampled  conquest.  Natu- 
rally there  came  divisions,  sects,  retrogression 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  ATegro  Race,  283. 

2  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  ii.,  12 1. 


Islam 


29 


at  points.  But  again  and  again  has  Moham- 
medan enthusiasm  broken  forth,  for  a  while  ir- 
resistibly. The  great  truth  contained  in  its 
doctrine  of  God  has  had  vital  power  sufficient 
to  sustain  the  whole  system,  in  spite  of  its  evils, 
throughout  the  centuries  ;  and  this  has  sent  it 
triumphantly,  even  in  our  own  century,  over 
broad  reaches  of  territory  and  in  new  conquest. 
So  startling  has  been  this  career  of  progress 
that  some  have  asserted  that  Islam  is  a  messen- 
ger of  God,  sent  to  prepare  the  way  before  His 
face.  We  do  not  dare  to  say  that ;  but  we  do 
not  dare  wholly  to  deny  it. 


M&* 


^M&^  ;r^: :'  'Jjjgvw*  ^Wm 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   CONTINENT    AND   ITS  EXPLORATION 

VICTOR  HUGO  says,  "In  the  twentieth 
century  Africa  will  be  the  cynosure  of  all 
eyes  "  ; — it  is  well  worth  our  attention  before 
that  time. 

The  continent  is  nearly  four  times  the  size 
of  the  United  States  ;  its  length  is  over  four 
thousand  miles,  its  extreme  width  four  thou- 
sand miles,  its  area  11,864,600  square  miles.1 
Its  general  configuration  has  been  compared 
to  an  "inverted  dish";  a  rim  of  lowland 
around  the  edge,  an  elevated  plateau  in  the 
centre.  A  slight  depression  in  this  tableland 
makes  possible  the  four  great  lakes  of  the  cen- 
tral region.  Also,  four  great  rivers  force  their 
way  from  the  centre  to  the  rim — the  Nile,  the 
Niger,  the  Congo,  and  the  Zambesi.     The  nar- 

1  The  Independent,  L,  568. 
30 


The  Continent  Explored        31 

row  edge  of  coast-line  is,  except  possibly  along 
the  northern  shore,  a  malarial  belt,  terribly 
fatal  to  human  beings  whose  constitutions  can- 
not stand  the  attack.  But  in  general  the  in- 
terior regions  are  healthful.  Africa  has  been 
called  "the  White  Man's  Grave";  but  this  is 
not  so  much  the  fault  of  Africa  as  the  white 
man's  ignorance.  Enlarging  experience  seems 
to  prove  that  with  proper  care  the  European 
may  live  almost  anywhere  in  Africa  as  health- 
fully as  in  any  region  of  similar  latitude.  "  The 
climate  of  the  Congo  has  been  unduly  vilified." 
"  Traders  on  the  coast  have  generally  fair 
health."  "  There  is  no  reason  why  Congo 
should  be  considered  more  unhealthy  than 
India  generally."  A  missionary,  writing  from 
the  region  of  Victoria,1 

"  found  the  natives  themselves  to  be  quite  as  sub- 
ject to  fevers  and  other  ills  as  white  men  in  the 
same  locality.  Most  severe  illnesses  in  the  case  of 
white  men  in  Africa  arise  from  their  own  imprud- 
ence or  want  of  knowledge.  Where  white  men  ex- 
ercise care  and  prudence,  they  have  been  able  to 
live  in  fair  health  for  a  long  period  of  years,  even 
where  there  has  been  a  high  mortality  among  the 
1  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  vii. ,  536. 


32  Islam  in  Africa 

blacks  in  the  same  region.  Our  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  injurious  to  health  in  tropical  Africa  is 
constantly  increasing — chill,  and  malaria,  is  the 
main  cause  of  African  fever.  .  .  .  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  will  outlive  his  black  companions  even  in 
the  heart  of  Africa."  ' 

Evidently  life  for  the  white  man  in  Africa  is 
not  so  unhealthy  as  has  been  supposed. 

Africa  is  a  continent  of  desert  and  forest. 
Vast  regions  in  the  northern  part,  some  large 
districts  farther  south  and  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  continent,  are  desolate.  But  irrigation 
is  all  that  is  needed  to  make  the  desert  blossom 
as  a  rose.  The  numerous  oases  in  the  desert 
of  Sahara  seem  to  prove  this.  The  proposition 
to  open  a  canal,  through  which  the  waters  of 
the  Atlantic  or  the  Mediterranean  shall  be 
brought  into  the  Saharan  Desert,  opens  fancies 
fascinating  as  a  fairy  tale,  and  as  unreal. 

In  startling  contrast  with  the  desert  regions 
of  Africa  are  the  vast  expanses  of  forest,  seem- 
ingly tractless  and  impenetrable,  which  cover 
a  large  part  of  Central  Africa.  The  flora  is  ex- 
ceedingly, we  may  say  in  places  excessively, 
rich  and  varied — so  much  so  as  to  render  the 

1  Confirmed  strikingly  by  A.  R.  Wallace  and  W.  F.  Black- 
mail in  The  Independent,  LI.,  667. 


The  Continent  Explored        33 

larger  part  of  the  continent,  until  of  late  years, 
a  sealed  letter  from  God  in  nature. 

The  land  of  Ethiopia  is  frequently  referred 
to  in  the  Bible — though  the  designation  may 
be  used  somewhat  vaguely.  Evidently  the 
region  south  and  perhaps  southwest  of  Egypt 
is  meant.  It  has  been  claimed  that  the  old 
Egyptians  were  closely  related  to  the  Nigri- 
cans ;  and  indeed  much  of  the  sculpturing  and 
picturing  of  old  Egyptian  civilisation  would 
seem  to  indicate  this.  If  this  be  true,  it  brings 
large  numbers  of  Central  Africans,  now  despised 
and  down-trodden,  into  a  grandeur  of  historical 
prominence.  Vague  ideas  seem  to  have  been 
current  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  con- 
cerning Central  Africa — rumours  of  great  lakes, 
of  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon,  of  dwarfs. 
These  hints  have  been  proved  in  our  later  days 
strangely  accurate  ;  but  mixed  with  them  were 
wild  fancies  of  the  imagination,  poets'  dreams. 
It  is  evident  that  early  Greek  and  Roman 
writers  knew  more  of  the  centre  of  Africa 
than  did  European  scholars  of  comparatively 
few  years  ago. 

Modern  exploration  may  be  said  to  have  be- 

3 


34  Islam  in  Africa 

gun  with  Mr.  James  Bruce,  who  in  1768  departed 
from  Cairo  on  a  journey  to  Abyssinia,  in  order 
to  discover  the  source  of  the  Nile.  After  him 
venturesome  men  in  a  glorious  succession  have 
kept  up  the  quest  down  to  our  own  times.  But 
the  real  opening  of  the  centre  of  the  continent 
has  been  only  within  the  last  twenty-five  or 
thirty  years. 

"  All  this  aims  to  build  up  a  great  civilisation 
which,  if  it  is  successful,  while  it  will  make  the 
white  man  the  leader  of  the  black  man  for  the  next 
one  hundred  years,  will  do  that  other  and  grand 
thing  spoken  of  by  Victor  Hugo  when  he  said 
1  that  in  the  nineteenth  century  the  white  man  has 
made  a  man  out  of  the  black,  and  in  the  twen- 
tieth century  Europe  will  make  a  world  out  of 
Africa.'  " 

The  cost  of  such  exploration,  in  life  rather 
than  in  treasure,  has  been  incalculable.  Take 
for  illustration  "  that  awful  itinerary  "  of  Stan- 
ley's journey  to  the  Albert  Nyanza — 

"through  a  forest  larger  than  France,  and 
through  the  matted  undergrowths  of  which  the 
starved  and  dwindling  column  crept  at  the  rate  of 
three  miles  a  day.  That  awful  itinerary,  filled 
with  fever,  fightings,  and  hideous  sufferings,  con- 


The  Continent  Explored        35 

tinued  for  more  than  five  months  before  the  one 
hundred  and  more  thin  skeletons  emerged  into 
the  plain  regions,  and  with  food  and  plenty  about 
them  began  to  take  heart  and  hope."  1 

But  the  large  advance  that  has  been  made  is 
well  indicated  by  the  simple  statement  that  in 
his  journey  of  1876,  Mr.  Stanley  took  991 
days  in  first  crossing  Africa  ;  but  in  1888  he 
could  go  from  Glasgow  to  Stanley  Falls,  nearly 
half  across  Africa  and  all  the  distance  from 
Glasgow  in  addition,  in  forty-three  days.2 
Railroad  facilities  are  being  already  started  ; 
a  telegraph  line  through  the  heart  of  Africa  is 
planned  and  begun,  and  we  have,  now  and 
then,  in  the  columns  of  our  daily  papers,  hints 
of  commercial  advantage  in  Africa,  and  sugges- 
tions of  white  colonisation  therein,  which  evi- 
dence clearly  the  fact  that  the  centre  of  Africa 
is  becoming  of  absorbing  interest  to  the  over, 
crowded  masses  in  the  centres  of  Europe  and  of 
America.  English,  German,  and  French  states- 
men and  engineers  are  busily  engaged  in  trying 
boundary  lines  and  defining  spheres  of  influence, 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iii.,  125. 

2  Ibid.,  i.,  469. 


36  Islam  in  Africa 

Maps  are  being  made  that  show  clearly  even 
the  miniitice  of  geographical  features. 

The  material  improvements  which  have  been 
made  in  the  last  two  decades  have  been  ex- 
ceedingly rapid.  Facts  to  which  particular 
attention  is  called  are : 

The  completion  of  the  great  and  difficult 
railroad  enterprise  connecting  the  upper  Congo 
with  the  sea.  Railroad  traffic  is  now  in  full 
operation  there,  while  above  Stanley  Pool  there 
are  no  less  than  forty-five  steamers,  mostly 
small,  though  one  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
tons  is  now  in  process  of  transportation. 

A  French  railroad  is  in  progress  from  the 
Senegal,  designed  to  connect  its  navigable 
waters  with  those  of  the  upper  Niger,  also 
with  Timbuctu  and  Western  Soudan. 

A  railroad  under  Portuguese  auspices  from 
Loango  to  what  is  known  as  the  Hinterland 
in  Angola. 

An  East-Coast  line  under  English  auspices 
from  Mombasa  to  the  lakes  is  in  progress ;  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  have  already  been 
covered ;  five  hundred  more  are  on  the  way  to 
completion. 


The  Continent  Explored       37 

A  South  African  railroad  from  the  Cape  to 
Kimberley  and  on  to  Buluvvayo,  now  completed 
with  many  branches,  and  destined  to  connect 
with  Lake  Nyassa  and  thence  by  the  east  line 
of  the  Congo  Free  State  with  the  railroad  sys- 
tem of  the  Nile,  which  will  soon  reach  Khar- 
toum. 

Railroads  extending  southward  in  Algiers 
and  Tunis. 

A  road  in  German  East  Africa  extending 
toward  Tanganyika  from  Dhar-es-Salam.  Tele- 
graph lines  not  only  accompany  these  railroads, 
but  in  many  cases  precede  them.1 

Evidently,  as  this  year  (1899)  opens,  Africa 
has  already  become  unsealed. 

1  See  Assembly  Herald,  January,  1899. 


iL/c— 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   NATIVE   RACES 

THE  ethnography  of  Africa  is  difficult. 
There  are  many  different  races  to  be 
taken  into  consideration.  The  differences  be- 
tween man  and  man  in  Africa  are  almost, 
or  quite,  as  great  as  between  man  in  America 
and  man  in  China.  One  reason  for  the  great 
confusion  in  the  European  mind  concerning 
men  and  matters  in  Africa  lies  in  the  fact  that 
these  racial  distinctions  are  not  recognised. 
Dr.  Blyden  in  commenting  upon  an  article  in 
the  Westminster  Review  ]  severely  criticises  the 
writer  on  this  ground  : 

"  The  Westminster  Reviewer  chooses  to  select 
the  very  lowest  tribes  upon  which  to  make  his  un- 
favourable comments,  and  from  which  to  infer  the 
character  of  the  whole  race.     .     .     .     Such  is  the 

1  Westminster  Review,  April,  1877. 
33 


The  Native  Races  39 

indictment  against  a  whole  race  drawn  by  an  ama- 
teur philanthropist  who  only  saw  portions  of  the 
people  in  one  corner  of  the  continent  where,  by 
his  own  account,  they  are  so  harassed  by  the  slave- 
traders  that  progress  is  impossible.  ...  So  the 
Reviewer,  continuing,  makes  a  disparaging  infer- 
ence as  to  the  character  and  capacity  of  all  Afri- 
cans from  the  want  of  success  that  has  attended 
the  efforts  of  the  so-called  negro  communities  in 
Christian  lands,  who  under  the  government  of  the 
Europeans  show  no  marked  ability  ;  or  who,  as  in 
the  case  of  Hayti  and  Liberia,  have  set  up  for 
themselves,  as  alleged,  ill-contrived,  unstable,  or 
unsuitable  governments.  .  .  .  These  negroes, 
as  far  as  they  are  purely  Africans,  do  not  represent 
even  the  average  intellectual  or  moral  qualities  of 
the  African  at  home."  1 

A  proper  understanding  of  at  least  the  fact 
of  such  racial  distinctions  is  necessary  in  order 
to  comprehend,  not  simply  the  question  con- 
cerning Mohammedanism  in  Africa,  but  as  well 
the  whole  problem  of  the  continent.  Prof. 
F.  Max  Muller2  presents  Waitz's  classification, 
which  seems  to  be  in  general  the  division  of  the 
races  accepted  now.  One  important  modifica- 
tion, however,  is  to  be  made,  in  that  the  Nubian 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam ,  and  the  Negro  Race,  308,  312. 

2  The  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion,  66, 


4o  Islam  in  Africa 

and  the  Fulah  races,  separated  by  Waitz,  are 
united  into  one  group  by  later  ethnologists. 
This  general  division  seems  to  have  been  elab- 
orated by  Messrs.  Cust  and  Ravenstein — 
founded  upon  linguistic  indications — and  has 
been  indicated  in  a  language  and  racial  map  of 
Africa.1     According  to  this  scheme  we  have  : 

I.  The  Hamitic  races — in  three  groups:  (a) 
Egyptian — including  the  Copts,  (b)  Berber, 
(c)  Ethiopic. 

Of  these  three  subdivisions,  the  Berbers  are 
the  ones  with  whom  we  have  chiefly  to  deal  in 
studying  Mohammedanism  in  Africa  ;  for  the 
Mohammedanism  of  Egypt  is  distinctly  Turk- 
ish or  Arabian,  rather  than  African.  Although 
the  Berbers  have  been  largely  tinctured  by  di- 
rect contact  with  modern  Turkish  Mohammed- 
anism, yet  they  are  as  a  race  so  distinctly  and 
so  sufficiently  African  as  to  help  us  to  under- 
stand what  Mohammedanism  in  Africa  is. 

The  present  home  of  the  Berber  race  is 
chiefly  in  the  Barbary  States,  along  the  north- 
ern coast  of  Africa.     The  race  is  now  largely 

1  Reproduced  in  the  Church  Missionary  Atlas,  i.,  Africa. 
London,  1887. 


The  Native  Races  41 

mixed  with  Arab  and  negro  and  Turkish  ele- 
ments. The  civilisation  of  Morocco,  Algiers, 
Tunis,  and  Tripoli  is  now  diversified  by  French 
and  Turkish  and  English  interests  so  largely  as 
to  be  unrecognisable  in  many  places  ;  but  in 
the  interior,  through  so  much  of  the  great 
northern  desert  as  is  still  under  the  control  of 
this  family  of  the  native  population,  life  and 
religion  are  still  as  they  have  been  for  a  long 
time  past,  and  as  they  will  be  for  some  time 
to  come. 

The  Barbary  towns  were  long  ago  described.1 
Later  information  simply  confirms  earlier  state- 
ments—  the  darkness  has  been  deepening. 
"  Such  is  the  delusion  of  all  these  seacoast 
Barbary  towns :  at  a  distance  and  without, 
beauty  and  brilliancy ;  but  near  and  within, 
filth  and  wretchedness."  Even  the  country  of 
Morocco,  looked  upon  by  the  faithful  Moham- 
medans as  to  be  held  next  to  Arabia  in  reverent 
estimation,  is  so  abominably  governed  by  its 
Sultan  and  in  many  ways  comes  into  question 
with  the  great  European  Powers  which  it  ap- 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1848. 


42  Islam  in  Africa 

proaches  so  closely  in  position,  that  a  partition 
is  called  for,  in  order  that  European  control, 
superseding  the  so-called  civilisation  of  the 
Mohammedan,  may  protect  interests  native  as 
well  as  foreign. 

Most  of  the  coast-line  of  northern  Africa 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  Arab  element  of  the 
population  ;  to  find  the  real  Berber  civilisa- 
tion, one  must  pass  to  the  interior,  into  the 
Desert  of  Sahara,  and  study  the  tribes  of  the 
great  Touarik  family.  Few  travellers  have  had 
much  to  do  with  this  large  and  important  com- 
pany of  tribes.  Yet  they  rule  over  many  thou- 
sands of  miles  in  that  desert  region  which  is 
their  home.  Mr.  James  Richardson,  a  corre- 
spondent of  one  of  the  London  newspapers,  in 
the  years  1845,  1846,  made  a  venturesome  jour- 
ney into  their  country — being  almost,  or  quite, 
the  only  one  who  up  to  that  time  had  been  able 
to  penetrate  that  region  and  to  return  with 
his  story.  He  describes  a  civilisation  simple, 
but  in  many  respects  admirable.  Untamed 
sons  of  the  desert,  they  still  hold  them- 
selves in  admirable  restraint,  so  far  as  the 
great   and  common   laws  of  morality  are  con- 


The  Native  Races  43 

cerned.  He  travelled  a  long  time  among  them, 
and  met  with  little  indication  of  savagery 
and  sensuality,  though  it  must  be  confessed 
that  their  religious  fanaticism  rendered  his  posi- 
tion at  times  difficult.  He  points  out,  however, 
indications  of  a  decided  retrogression  in  the 
material  prosperity  of  that  region.  Thus : 
"  Formerly  Fezzan  was  exceedingly  rich  and 
populous,  but  now  it  has  become  impoverished 
to  the  last  degree,  and  many  of  its  largest  dis- 
trict populations  are  reduced  to  the  starvation 
point."  Throughout,  many  hints  are  given  of 
oases  being  encroached  upon  by  the  desert, 
of  the  inhabitants  being  under  the  greatest 
stress  for  support,  of  apparent  decrease  in  both 
population  and  prosperity.  "  The  process  which 
has  reduced  so  many  once  populous  cities  and 
villages  to  deserts,  and  left  large  portions  of 
the  Barbary  States  with  only  the  mouldering 
ruins  of  their  former  greatness,  has  been  a 
gradual  one."  '  It  may  be  that  the  recent  ad- 
vance of  European  interests  throughout  North 
Africa  has  of  late  stimulated  somewhat  the  civ- 

1  Oriental  Religions  and    Christianity,   F.    F.    Ellinwood, 
D.D.,  201. 


44  Islam  in  Africa 

ilisation  of  this  region.  But  we  have  gained 
this  fact  of  importance,  viz.,  that  in  the  Berber 
element  of  the  Mohammedan  population  of 
Africa  we  have  a  race  strong,  capable,  compar- 
atively elevated,  tenacious,  and  important. 

II.  Turn  now  to  the  Semitic  element.  This 
is  composed  largely  of  the  Arabs — called  Moors 
along  the  northern  edge  of  the  continent. 
Apart  from  the  Berbers,  and  excepting  a  large 
protuberance  of  the  purely  negro  population 
north  of  Lake  Tchad,  the  whole  of  North 
Africa  from  fifteen  degrees  latitude  may  be  said 
to  be  populated  by  the  Arab  race.  Throughout 
the  desert  region,  particularly  the  western  part 
of  Sahara  and  the  region  immediately  west  of 
the  river  Nile,  they  are  supreme.  In  the  interior 
of  Equatorial  Africa,  from  fifteen  degrees  lati- 
tude south  to  fifteen  degrees  north,  there  are 
Arab  stations  and  settlements, — "  sparsely  scat- 
tered, inhabited  by  but  few  Arabs  with  their 
retainers,  powerful  only  by  comparison  with 
the  utter  feebleness  of  native  powers  around, 
useful  as  bases  of  operation  and  cities  of  refuge 
for  the  slave-hunters  during  their  expeditions 
into  the  interior." 


The  Native  Races  45 

"  A  considerable  portion  of  those  who  make  Cen- 
tral Africa  their  home  are  the  riff-raff  of  the  Arabic 
nation,  and  largely  responsible  for  the  ill-odour  in 
which  the  Arab  is  held  in  the  interior.  Yet  when- 
ever you  come  across  him,  whether  at  the  coast  or 
in  the  remotest  deserts,  you  usually  find  in  him  the 
same  courteous  manner,  and  the  same  readiness  to 
entertain  strangers  with  his  always  polite,  some- 
what superficial,  but  none  the  less  agreeable  hospi- 
tality. The  Englishman,  who  is  himself  troubled 
little  by  manners  in  his  own  country,  will  find  him- 
self much  at  a  disadvantage  in  dealing  with  the 
polished,  dignified  Arab,  even  in  the  wilds  of 
Central  Africa."  ■ 

The  Arabs  are,  largely,  the  merchants  and 
the  slave-traders  of  Central  and  Northern 
Africa.  Thus :  "  The  only  trade  of  any  im- 
portance carried  on  with  Uganda,  is  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  Arabs  and  half-breed  mer- 
chants from  Zanzibar."  a  Dr.  Pruen  gives  an 
interesting  illustration  of  their  character,  as 
well  as  business  methods  and  capability,  in  the 
statement  which  he  makes,  that  he  had,  far  in 
the  interior,  paid  these  Arabs  for  goods  "  with 

1  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  254. 

2  Uganda  and  the  Egyptian  Soudan,  Messrs.  Wilson  and 
Felkin,  i.,  189. 


46  Islam  in  Africa 

an  English  cheque  which  they  at  once  accepted 
at  the  value  which  I  told  them  it  represented  "  ' 
He  seems  to  have  studied  accurately  these 
men,  as  he  thus  describes  them  : a 

"  Perhaps,  to  a  popularly  opposite  view  of  the 
case,  I  must  protest  against  the  right  of  the  Arabs 
as  such  to  be  in  any  way  entitled  a  religious  na- 
tion. Had  the  Mohammedan  scheme  been  en- 
trusted to  Arab  keeping  alone  ;  had  not  Persian, 
Mongol,  Turkish,  nay,  at  times  European  influ- 
ences and  races  come  to  its  aid,  few  would  have 
been  ere  this  the  readers  of  the  Koran,  and  the 
fasters  of  Ramadan.  ...  A  strong  love  and  a 
high  appreciation  of  national  and  personal  liberty, 
a  hatred  of  minute  interference  and  special  regula- 
tions, a  great  respect  for  authority  so  long  as  it  is 
decently  well  exercised,  joined  with  a  remarkable 
freedom  from  anything  like  caste-feeling  in  what 
concerns  ruling  families  and  dynasties,  much 
practical  good  sense,  much  love  of  commercial 
enterprise,  a  great  readiness  to  undertake  long 
journeys  and  voluntary  expatriation  by  land  and 
sea  in  search  of  gain  and  power,  patience  to  endure, 
and  perseverance  in  the  employment  of  means  to 
ends,  courage  in  war,  vigour  in  peace,  and,  lastly, 
the  marked  predominance  of  a  superior  race  over 
whomever  they  came  in  contact  with  among  their 

1  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  256. 

2  Ibid.,  261,  262. 


The  Native  Races  47 

Asiatic  or  African  neighbours,  a  superiority  admitted 
by  these  last  as  a  matter  of  course  and  an  acknow- 
leged  right.  .  .  .  The  Arab  completely  released 
from  the  curse  of  Islam,  which  does  more  harm  by 
standing  in  the  way  of  his  development  than  by 
actually  corrupting  him,  would  be  a  really  fine 
character  ;  and  he  is  so  thoroughly  fitted,  physi- 
cally, intellectually,  and  socially,  for  work  in  the 
interior  of  Africa,  that  if  he  could  but  be  brought 
to  the  saving  knowledge  of  Christ,  the  difficult 
question  of  the  evangelisation  of  the  Dark  Conti- 
nent would  practically  be  solved." 

But  let  us  not  idealise  too  largely  the  Arabs 
of  Africa — the  slavers,  the  robbers,  the  desolat- 
ors  of  a  continent. 

III.  We  have  next  the  Nuba-Fulah  group 
—evidently  an  ancient  race,  aboriginal  in  the 
lower  basin  of  the  Nile.1  Light  brown  in  col- 
our ;  a  powerful,  superior  race  ;  quite  distinct 
from  the  Egyptian  on  the  one  side  and  the 
negro  on  the  other.  Some  of  their  tribes,  as 
the  Massai,  are  considered  of  the  most  savage 
peoples  in  East  Africa.  The  Nyamnyam  tribe 
belongs  to  this  family — as  described  by  Schwein- 
furth  in  his  Heart  of  Africa.     The  great  Hausa 

1  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  ii.,  186. 


48  Islam  in  Africa 

tribe  is  of  this  class,  with  its  advanced  civilisa- 
tion : 

"  fast-walled  cities  of  fifty,  eighty,  and  even  one 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants  ;  caravans  are  al- 
ways streaming  out  —  to  the  south  to  raid  for 
slaves,  and  to  the  North  African  states  across  the 
Sahara  to  sell.  Weavers,  dyers,  and  shoemakers 
work  hard  in  the  streets  of  these  great  cities,  manu- 
facturing ample  clothing  that  the  people  wear, 
and  exhibit  this  remarkable  spectacle  of  African 
civilisation."   ' 

They  are  largely  or  entirely  Mohammedans — 
at  least  in  name ;  "  they  dominate  as  Moham- 
medan foreign  conquerors ;  they  cultivate  Mo- 
hammedan learning  with  much  enthusiasm  ;  they 
are  numerous  and  powerful."3  We  have  in 
this  a  race  markedly  superior  and  capable, 
particularly  in  Western  and  Central  Soudan. 

IV.  The  Negro.  This  is  the  race  from  which, 
largely,  the  general  idea  of  African  population 
has  been  derived.  For  from  this  race  have  the 
slaves  principally  been  taken.  Their  home  is 
along  the  West  Coast  for  fifteen  degrees  north 
of  the  equator.     This  is  the  race  that  bears  the 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  vii.,  507. 

2  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  ii.,  186. 


The  Native  Races  49 

characteristics,  physical,  mental,  and  moral,  that 
distinguish  so  emphatically  the  black  man.  It 
has  been  supposed  that  all  Africa  is  inhabited 
by  this  race  ;  hence  the  Africans  throughout 
were  judged  in  accordance  with  the  former 
slave  population  of  America, — the  projecting 
jaw,  small  brain  cavity,  flat  nose,  protruding 
lips,  thick  skull,  projecting  heel,  black  and 
odorous  skin,  short  and  woolly  hair.  Some- 
what inferior  in  mental  development ;  naturally 
gentle,  sunny,  and  childlike  ;  easily  influenced  ; 
indolent,  improvident,  contented.  There  is 
some  little  development  in  the  arts  of  life ; 
Mungo  Park  describes  the  capital,  Bambasi,  a 
city  of  thirty  thousand  people  with  two-story 
houses — though  this  may  have  been  partly 
Mohammedan  rather  than  negro  civilisation. 
Evidently  the  country  is  thickly  settled,  dotted 
over  with  numerous  towns  inhabited  by  vary- 
ing numbers  up  to  150,000  souls.1  We  have 
enough  to  indicate  an  interesting  if  not  ad- 
vanced race. 

V.  The  Bantu  or  Zulu  or  Kafir  race.     This 
is  the  family  of  tribes  concerning  which  most 

1  The  Independent,  xlv.,  504. 


50  Islam  in  Africa 

has  been  written  in  the  works  of  the  later  African 

travellers.      Originally,    as    is  supposed,    they 

came  from  Western  Asia.     There  are  probably 

more  than  fifty  millions  of  this  race  in  Africa — 

a  quarter  of  the  whole  population.     This  race 

has   developed    a   wonderful   language,  giving 

thereby  indication  of  large  possibility  in  the  line 

of  civilisation.     In  person  they  are  finer-looking 

than  the   negro,  and  are   separated    from    the 

latter   in    that   they  speak   a  totally   different 

language.     The  descriptions  given  of  them  by 

travellers  are  full  of  surprise  and  interest.    Thus 

the  social  order  shown  in  Uganda,  one  of  the 

northernmost  of  the  Bantu  kingdoms,  is  almost 

startling;  evidently  the  Bantus  are  capable  of  a 

high    civilisation.     Livingstone,    Colenso,    and 

Wilberforce  thought  them  "  the  counterpart  of 

our  civilisation."  '     Mr.  Mackay,  missionary  in 

Uganda,  bore  witness  to  the  fact  that  some  of 

his  scholars  seemed  quite  to  comprehend  the 

argument    in   the   seventh,  eighth,   and    ninth 

chapters    of    Romans    which    would    indicate 

intellectual  ability  above  that  of  many  of  our 

own  fellow  countrymen.     The  race  is  decidedly 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  xii.,  404. 


The  Native  Races  51 

musical.1  The  beautiful  faithfulness  with  which 
the  Bantu  servants  of  Livingstone  carried  and 
cared  for  the  dead  body  of  their  master  until 
they  had  brought  it  to  the  sea  is  one  of  the 
most  touching  stories  of  the  kind  in  all  litera- 
ture. The  good  qualities  of  the  Congo  tribes 
are  testified  to  by  many  travellers ;  there  is  a 
vitality  of  grace  and  power  about  the  Bantu 
that  will  make  him  take  his  place  some  day 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.2  Mr.  Arnot 
travelled  through  the  Bantu  country  "  without 
bodyguard  or  arms,  without  companions  white 
or  black."  "  Repeatedly  the  natives  expressed 
their  joy  and  satisfaction  at  the  way  I  had 
treated  them  by  coming  amongst  them  with 
'open  hands.'"3  To  Henry  M.  Stanley,  the 
Wahuma  race  brought  up  thoughts  of  "  those 
blameless  people  with  whom  the  gods  deign  to 
banquet  once  a  year  upon  the  heights  of 
Ethiopia."4  Professor  Drummond's  repetition 
of  the  usual  traveller's  estimate  of  the  depraved 

1  Story  of  Uganda,  by  S.  G.  Stock,  i.,  149  ;     The  Arab  and 
the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  99-105. 

2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  ii.,  132. 

3  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  vi.,  65. 

4  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iv. ,  294. 


52  Islam  in  Africa 

Zanzibaris  is  contradicted  by  Dr.  Pruen  ;  who 
says  that  they  are  "  as  a  rule  surprisingly  honest, 
kind-hearted,  and  faithful."  '  This  is  the  more 
surprising  in  that,  of  all  African  tribes,  the 
Bantus  of  Zanzibar  have  been  perhaps  under  the 
worst  influences.  Testimony  almost  without 
end  might  be  adduced  to  support  the  state- 
ment that  in  this  great  Bantu  family  we  have  a 
magnificent  race  of  men,  with  grand  possibilities 
for  future  civilisation. 

VI.  The  sixth  class  of  inhabitants  is  the 
Hottentot  family — the  lowest  in  the  scale  of 
humanity  in  Africa.  It  includes  as  well  the 
pygmy  tribes  lately  discovered.  As  Moham- 
medanism has  had  little  or  no  contact  with  this 
family  of  men  it  is  not  necessary,  for  our  pur- 
pose now,  to  describe  them.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  island  of  Madagascar  are  of  still  another 
and  distinct  race — being  allied  to  the  Malay 
family.  They  also  do  not  come  into  our  line 
of  thought  at  this  time. 

In  general,  and  concerning  all  the  different 
races  thus  suggested,  it  is  evident  that  Moham- 
medanism in  Africa  has  to  deal  with  races  of 

1  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  98. 


The  Native  Races  53 

men  capable  of  much.  The  wild  and  impossi- 
ble African  is  largely  a  creature  of  the  imagina- 
tion. The  contempt  that  the  white  races  have 
felt  toward  the  black  races  is  hardly  justified, 
so  far  at  least  as  many  of  these  African  tribes 
are  concerned.  Some  one  has  said,  "The  fate 
of  the  negro  is  the  romance  of  our  age";  it 
has  been,  rather,  a  tragedy  thus  far.  Before 
European  civilisation  can  make  much  progress 
with  the  African  this  fundamental  fact  must  be 
realised — that  we  have  men,  capable  races  of 
men,  with  whom  to  deal.  It  is  because  the 
Arab  has  recognised  this  fact  more  largely  than 
the  European,  that  he  has  made  himself  so  ef- 
fective, for  bad  or  good,  throughout  the  conti- 
nent. The  white  man  must  recognise  the  man- 
hood of  the  black  man.  Intellectually  he  is 
capable  ;  there  is  no  truth  which  the  negro  is 
unable  to  grasp.1  Livingstone's  profound  ob- 
servation concerning  them  was  that  "  goodness 
impresses  them."  2  There  is  not  a  tribe  on  the 
continent  of  Africa  that  does  not  stretch  out 
its  hands  to  the  great  Creator,  that  does  not 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  93. 

2  Garenganze,  Arnot,  266. 


54  Islam  in  Africa 

recognise  the  Supreme  Being."  '  Fetichism, 
witchcraft,  reign  supreme  and  drag  into  lifelong 
fear ;  but  behind  and  above  all  is  a  vague 
theism.  The  negro  is  far  different  from  the 
Caucasian  ;  but  that  he  is  not  essentially  in- 
ferior is  a  thought  that  we  need  to  learn.  In- 
tertribal war  has  destroyed  all  possibility  of 
accumulation  and  consequent  civilisation  ;  an 
innate  instability  of  character  has,  to  some  de- 
gree, been  developed2;  stupidity,  according  to 
Western  ideas,  characterises  many  of  the  tribes 3 ; 
an  extraordinary  indifference  to  the  future  may 
be  noted  4 ;  fear  of  hunger  and  fear  of  punish- 
ment are  the  two  great  motives  that  control.6 
But  the  African  is  a  man. 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  132. 

2  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  309. 

3  Ibid.,  276. 

A  Ibid.,  265  •    Blyden,   Christianity,   Is/am,  and   the    ATegro 
Rare,  308. 

5  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  242. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE     MOHAMMEDAN   CONQUEST  OF    AFRICA 

WITHIN  one  hundred  years  after  the  flight 
of  Mohammed  from  Mecca,  the  Hejira, 
the  empire  of  his  successors  extended  from  In- 
dia to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  over  "  the  various  and 
distant  provinces  which  may  be  known  under 
the  names  of  Persia,  Syria,  Egypt,  Africa,  and 
Spain.1  Startling  advance  ;  taking  everything 
into  consideration,  incomparable  in  the  history 
of  the  race.  Of  these  magnificent  conquests  but 
one  comes  into  our  consideration  now — Africa. 
We  are  told  that  Mohammed  regarded  Africa 
with  peculiar  interest  and  affection.  At  one 
time,  when  his  followers  were  sorely  persecuted 
in  Arabia,  he  devised  an  asylum  in  Africa : 
"  Yonder  lieth  a  country  wherein  no  man  is 
wronged — a   land    of    righteousness.      Depart 

1  Gibbon,  Roman  Empire,  vi.,  28* 
55 


56  Islam  in  Africa 

thither,  and  remain  until  it  pleaseth  the  Lord 
to  open  your  way  before  you."  '  Events  took 
such  a  turn  that  the  prophet  was  enabled  to 
make  for  his  followers  a  home  and  throne  in  his 
own  land  ;  but  into  the  region  of  the  "  Ethi- 
opians "  his  followers  later  made  entrance  as 
conquerors.  Far  beyond  the  imagination  of 
the  prophet,  Africa  has  proved  itself  a  fruitful 
home  for  Islam. 

It  is  necessary  for  us  to  remind  ourselves  of 
the  condition  of  North  Africa  in  the  times 
immediately  preceding  the  advent  of  Islam. 
Christianity  ruled  in  the  land,  but  "  wofully 
weakened  and  rent  by  wild  heresies  and 
schisms."  2  Mighty  fathers  of  the  Church  had 
found  a  home,  had  done  work,  throughout  that 
region — Tertullian,  Origen,  Cyprian,  Augustine, 
and  many  others.  It  is  said  that  there  were 
four  or  five  hundred  bishops — which  means, 
of  course,  thousands  of  churches  and  priests — 
in  North  Africa  at  that  time.3  But  the  early 
purity  of  the  Christian  faith  had  been,  during 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  266. 

2  Oriental  Religions   and  Christianity,    F.    F.    Ellinwood, 
D.D  ,  201. 

3  Report  of  Missionary  Conference,  London,  18S8,  i.,  29. 


Conquest  of  Africa  57 

those  six  centuries,  largely  lost  through  strife 
and  division.  Heresy  and  ambition  had  greatly 
weakened  the  Church.  The  decadence  of  Ro- 
man ecclesiastical  and  civil  authority  was  sadly 
evident  ;  there  was  little  or  no  solidarity  in 
the  communities  of  North  Africa.  The  social 
structure  there  was  like  the  card  houses  which 
children  build, — when  Islam  touched  Egypt, 
the  whole  edifice  fell.  It  is  claimed  by  a  some- 
what enthusiastic  admirer  of  Mohammedanism 
"that  the  form  of  Christianity  which  it  sup- 
planted in  North  Africa  .  .  .  was  infinitely 
inferior  to  Mohammedanism  itself."  '  But  un- 
less Islam  has  terribly  degenerated,  it  is  hard  to 
see  how  any  mediaeval  form  of  Christianity, 
however  debased,  could  have  been  "  inferior  " 
to  the  unspeakable  degradation  of  things  social, 
commercial,  and  religious  in  those  lands  now — 
except  so  far  as  European  influence  of  late  has 
modified  matters.  With  the  irresistible  enthu- 
siasm of  a  new-born  faith,  Islam  advanced 
against,  and  over,  a  divided  and  helpless  com- 
munity, largely  Christian — and  left  behind 
something  worse,  not  better. 

1  Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism ,  Bosworth  Smith,  228. 


58  Islam  in  Africa 

The  progress  of  Islam  over  Northern  Africa 
was  like  that  of  a  blazing  prairie  fire — rapid, 
scorching,  desolating.  And  yet  Christianity 
struggled  desperately.  We  are  told  that  four- 
teen times  it  was  driven  by  the  sword  into 
apostasy,  and  fourteen  times  it  returned  to  its 
ancient  faith.  In  spite  of  the  banishment  to 
the  deserts  of  Arabia  of  multitudes  of  men  of 
all  ranks,  in  spite  of  solicitations,  seductions> 
caresses,  the  Catholic  Church  remained  stead- 
fast at  its  post  at  Carthage  and  in  Tunis  proper 
for  more  than  six  centuries  after  the  Mussul- 
man's conquest.1  For  sixty  years  North  Africa 
wrestled  with  the  Mohammedan  warriors.  The 
Christians  and  the  pagan  Moors  united  in 
opposition.  But,  though  they  could  hinder, 
they  could  not  stop  the  victorious  advance  of 
Abdallah  and  Zobeir,  but  particularly  of  Akbah, 
justly  called  the  "  Conqueror  of  Africa."  Under 
these  leaders,  especially  the  last,  the  deserts  of 
North  Africa  were  traversed  almost  as  if  civil- 
isation and  abundance  welcomed  the  conquer- 
ors  on    every  side.     They  penetrated  to    the 

1  Quoted  by  Dr.  Blyden,  from  a  Bull  of  Tope  Leo  XIII., 
in  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  353. 


Conquest  of  Africa  59 

Atlantic  coast.  Akbah  spurred  his  horse  into 
the  waves  and,  raising  his  eyes  to  heaven,  ex- 
claimed with  the  cry  of  a  true  fanatic  :  "  Great 
God  !  if  my  course  were  not  stopped  by  this  sea, 
I  would  still  go  on  to  the  unknown  kingdom  of 
the  West,  preaching  the  unity  of  Thy  holy 
name,  and  putting  to  the  sword  the  rebellious 
nations  who  worship  any  other  gods  than 
Thee."  '  Gradually  the  Christian  population 
was  overwhelmed  ;  slowly  the  Moors,  or  Ber- 
bers, were  converted  to  the  Mohammedan  faith 
and  allegiance.  The  Arabs  that  had  come  from 
Asia  through  Egypt  into  the  northern  desert 
were  gradually  merged  with  the  Berber  race 
that  was  closely  akin  ;  the  remnants  of  other 
races  there  present  were  slowly  absorbed  ;  until 
all  coalesced  under  the  banner  of  Islam,  unit- 
edly turning  their  faces  towards  Mecca. 

In  the  early  days  of  that  fierce  struggle 
there  arose  a  negro  statesman  and  warrior, 
Soni  Heli  Ischia,  who  created  a  vast  negro 
empire  ;  in  opposition  to  the  Moors,  who  sought 
to  extend  the  political  supremacy  of  Islam  from 
the  north,  even  in  those  early  days,  down  into 
1  Gibbon,  Roman  Empire,  vi.,  348. 


60  Islam  in  Africa 

the  region  south  of  the  Saharan  desert.  This 
negro  patriot  is  said  to  have  obtained  control 
from  Timbuctoo  westward  to  the  Atlantic  and 
eastward  to  Abyssinia,  a  line  of  about  three 
thousand  miles  in  length.1  If  what  is  stated  be 
historic,  it  gives  us  an  instructive  hint  of  the 
Central  African  in  those  days,  and  of  possibili- 
ties in  the  future. 

It  would  be  needless,  whether  or  not  possible, 
to  follow  the  progress  of  that  early  conquest, 
step  by  step.  Gradually  Mohammedanism  ob- 
tained control  of  the  various  tribes.  On  the 
whole  a  steady  progress  in  conversion,  but  not 
in  civilisation,  has  been  made  throughout  the 
centuries,  reaching  its  climax  in  the  awful  rule 
of  the   Mahdi,   and  his  successor  the  Khalifa. 

"  This  vast  expanse  of  country  has  now  fallen 
into  an  almost  indescribable  state  of  moral  and 
religious  decadence.  In  the  Sudan,  we  have  be- 
fore us  a  terrible  example  of  a  nascent  and  some- 
what crude  civilisation  suddenly  shattered  by  wild, 
ignorant,  and  almost  savage  tribes  who  have  built 
over  the  scattered  remnants  a  form  of  government 
based,  to  some  extent,  on  the  lines  they  found  ex- 
isting, but  from  which  they  have  eradicated  almost 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  141. 


Conquest  of  Africa  61 

every  symbol  of  right,  justice  and  morality,  and 
for  which  they  have  substituted  a  rule  of  injustice, 
ruthless  barbarity,  and  immorality.  Nor  can  I 
recall  any  other  instance  in  modern  times  of  a 
country  in  which  a  semblance  of  civilisation  has 
existed  for  upwards  of  half  a  century,  falling  back 
into  a  state  so  little  removed  from  absolute  bar- 
barism." ' 

With  continued  fanaticism  there  has  been  a 
gradual  advance  through  the  north  of  Africa  of 
that  process  of  desolation  which  has  brought 
a  once  flourishing  region  into  desert-like  isola- 
tion, into  poverty  and  degradation.  Moham- 
medanism in  North  Africa  is  well  indicated  by 
the  desert  mosques  which  Mr.  Richardson  found 
in  his  travels  through  the  Saharan  desert — 
simply  an  outline,  in  small  stones,  of  the  ground- 
plan  of  Mohammedan  temples.  Here  the 
devout  passers-by  "  occasionally  stopped  and 
prayed."  2  Unbuilt,  uncovered,  unsurrounded 
by  habitation — the  spirit  of  prayer  therein 
offered,  the  heat  of  fanaticism  therein  shown, 
is  only  equalled  by  the  utter  desolation  of  the 
prayer-place  under  the  heat  of  the  Saharan  sun. 

1  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  622. 

2  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1848,  ii.,  269. 


62  Islam  in  Africa 

For  centuries  the  countries  along  the  north- 
ern shore  of  Africa  have  been  under  the  control 
of  Mohammedanism,  and  we  have  hinted  at 
the  desolating  effects.  Gradually  progress  has 
been  made  southward  through  the  desert  and 
into  North-Central  Africa.  But  only  lately 
has  Mohammedanism  been  carried  with  con- 
quering power  into  Central  Africa.  In  our 
own  days  its  merchant  missionaries,  largely 
slavers,  have  been  pacing  pathways  throughout 
Central  and  even  into  South-Central  Africa  as 
far  south  as  fifteen  degrees  below  the  equator. 
The  story  of  this  recent  Mohammedan  advance 
is  wonderful,  the  conquest  of  a  little  world 
within  this  century  !  Few  realise  what  the 
progress  has  been. 

It  is  in  comparatively  recent  times  that  the 
Arabs  took  possession  of  the  eastern  coast 
around  Zanzibar,  and  of  the  interior  from  there. 
They  sailed  from  Arabia  and  threw  themselves 
upon  the  eastern  African  coast,  dispossessing 
the  inert  Portuguese  who  had  held  these  regions 
with  more  or  less  of  control  since  the  time  of 
Vasco  Da  Gama  in  the  early  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century.     Persistently,  rapidly,  Moham- 


Conquest  of  Africa  63 

medan  agents  made  progress  throughout  the 
interior,  establishing  small  settlements,  prose- 
lyting among  the  natives,  obtaining  political 
control,  and  terrorising  throughout.  Their 
scorching  presence  has  been  manifested  as  far 
south  as  Mozambique  and  throughout  the  Lake 
Nyassa  region.  Through  the  past  few  decades 
they  have  been  wandering,  with  but  little  hind- 
rance, from  the  extreme  north  thus  far  through 
the  south — and  from  the  east  through  to  the 
west.  With  them,  markedly,  business  and  re- 
ligion have  been  identified.  Mr.  Richardson  in 
his  travels  through  the  Great  Desert,  found 
that  the  merchants  of  Ghadames  "  often  re- 
main in  Soudan  five,  ten,  even  fifteen  and 
twenty  years,  leaving  their  families  here  whilst 
they  accumulate  a  fortune  in  commercial  specu- 
lations. Sometimes  they  marry  other  wives  in 
Soudan  and  form  another  establishment." 2 
There  is  a  something  characteristic  of  Moham- 
medanism in  the  desire  for  wife  and  home 
which  these  Arabs  develop  ;  marrying  the  one, 
and  creating  the  other,  wherever  they  go  for  a 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1848,  i.,  98. 


64  Islam  in  Africa 

while.  Again  he  testifies,1  "  I  see  in  them  the 
mixture  of  a  religious  and  commercial  character 
blended  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner  and  de- 
gree." Slaves  are  their  chief  business  concern, 
with  all  the  unspeakable  horrors  of  the  traffic. 
Arab  traders  are  among  the  chief  importers  of 
the  intoxicating  spirits  which  are  degrading 
Africa.3  Ivory  and  the  slave-trade  go  together  ; 
the  slaves  are  purchased  or  captured  to  carry  the 
ivory  from  the  inland  to  the  coast  ;  and  both 
are  sold  on  arriving  at  the  destination.  Shrewd, 
selfish,  successful  traders  are  these  Arabs,  blight- 
ing a  continent  to  gratify  their  greed. 

But  what  interests  us  particularly  at  this  time 
is  the  way  in  which  Mohammedanism  has  been, 
by  these  means,  advanced  throughout  the  north- 
ern and  central  regions  of  the  continent.  Its 
progress  is  in  general  due  either  to  force  or 
fraud,  or  both.  This  is  the  method.3  Let  us 
suppose  a  region  of  one  hundred  large  villages  ; 
forty  of  them  become  Moslem,  and  are  unmo- 
lested ;  sixty  are  raided,  captured,  or  destroyed. 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1S48,  i.,  383. 

2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  99. 
3 Ibid.,  i.,865. 


Conquest  of  Africa  65 

That  region  is  now  reported  as  converted. 
Long  after,  because  of  the  memories  of  the 
natives  that  survive,  the  Arab  master  will  be 
obeyed,  and  the  Arab  religion  will  be  in  form 
observed — so  far  as  immunity  is  promised 
thereby.  The  story  of  Tippu  Tib,  Mr.  Stanley's 
"  friend,"  if  such  he  can  be  called,  well  illustrates 
the  conquest  of  Central  Africa  by  Mohammed- 
anism. He  had  been  a  coast  slaver.  By  a 
fortunate  raid  he  got  possession  of  a  large 
amount  of  ivory  and  many  slaves.  Successful 
disposal  of  this  booty  enabled  him  to  obtain 
guns  and  war  slaves.  He  continued  a  tri- 
umphant, unchecked  course  from  the  south  of 
Tanganyika  northwards  towards  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Congo  Free  State  :  he  ravaged 
on  every  side,  gathering  ivory  and  making 
slaves  by  hundreds.  He  learned  from  a  captive 
that  the  king  of  a  district  not  far  off  had  disap- 
peared mysteriously  many  years  before,  and 
that  the  people  were  waiting  for  him  to  return, 
or  for  some  legitimate  successor  to  claim  au- 
thority. Tippu  Tib  artfully  conceived  the  plan 
of  representing  himself  as  the  son  and  heir,  and 

accordingly   schooled  himself  in  all   the   local 
5 


66  Islam  in  Africa 

knowledge  necessary  for  the  deception  he  in- 
tended to  practise.  By  the  time  he  reached 
that  region  he  could  rehearse  the  long  lines  of 
the  king's  ancestry,  the  names  of  his  living 
relatives  and  the  elders  of  the  land  ;  and  was 
familiar  with  the  events,  traditions,  and  customs 
of  the  country.  He  despatched  messengers 
into  the  country  to  announce  his  arrival,  and 
to  tell  the  wondering  people  the  news  of  his 
father's  fate,  and  of  his  intention  to  assume  his 
father's  rights.  The  people  accepted  the  story 
without  difficulty,  and  offered  to  escort  him 
with  honour  to  his  father's  land — which,  as 
Mr.  Stanley  humorously  relates,  Tippu  Tib 
courteously  accepted.  On  arrival,  he  told  the 
chiefs  the  story  of  his  father's  disappearance, 
with  a  wealth  of  fictitious  details.  They  were 
thoroughly  persuaded  that  he  was  no  other 
than  their  lost  king's  son  ;  and  he  was  formally 
installed  as  their  king.  Before  many  days  had 
passed,  the  people  of  the  region  were  made  to 
understand  that  ivory  was  very  acceptable  to 
their  king;  and  heaps  of  it  wrere  daily  laid 
before  him.  Finally,  when  he  had  depleted 
the    region    of    ivory,   he  sought    occasion   to 


Conquest  of  Africa  67 

embroil  this  kingdom  with  the  neighbouring 
tribes,  which  gave  him  opportunity  to  despatch 
his  native  force  for  the  purpose  of  despoiling 
the  surrounding  regions.  Within  fifteen  months 
he  had  gathered  nine  hundred  tusks ;  and  he 
now  proposed  to  his  admiring  subjects  that 
they  should  muster  carriers  to  convey  his  treas- 
ures to  another  country  which  he  said  he  owned. 
Thus  he  brought  his  ivory  to  the  market  ;  and 
the  Arabs  of  the  region  "  hailed  him  as  genius 
and  recognised  his  superiority."  The  almost 
infinite  cruelty  of  the  whole  process  can  be, 
however,  but  faintly  imagined.  It  is  said  that 
he  realised  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  by  the  sale  of  this  accumulation.1  In 
1890  he  commanded  on  the  Upper  Congo, 
authority  unchallenged,  with  an  army  of  two 
thousand  men  provided  with  Winchester  rifles.2 
He,  and  such  as  he,  carry  Mohammedanism 
with  them  as  they  go,  and  represent  it  to  the 
native  tribes. 

It  is  hard  to  draw  a  dividing  line  between 
the  raiding  of  Mohammedan  slave-dealers  and 

1  Slavery  and  the  Slave   Trade  in  Africa,  H.  M.  Stanley, 
29-34-     2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iii.,  470. 


68  Islam  in  Africa 

the  establishment  of  Mohammedanism  as  a  re- 
ligion in  Central  Africa.  The  former  is  legiti- 
mately a  shading  off  of  the  latter.  We  may 
presume  that  as  distance  and  time  have  weak- 
ened Mohammedan  enthusiasm,  the  outreach- 
ing  towards  the  south  from  the  Mohammedan 
kingdoms  in  North-Central  Africa  has  been 
more  and  more  largely  that  purely  selfish  inter- 
est which  is  involved  in  the  trade  element  of 
their  religion  ;  and  perhaps  the  conquest  of 
Zanzibar  by  the  Arabs,  and  their  approach  into 
the  interior  from  that  coast,  has  been  almost 
entirely  for  the  purpose  of  trade  and  with  little 
thought  of  proselytism.  And  yet  the  story  of 
Uganda  indicates  clearly  that  even  the  slave- 
traders  seek  to  advance  their  religion  politically, 
whether  or  not  for  purely  selfish  purposes.  We 
must,  however,  see  clearly  that  there  has  been, 
particularly  in  North-Central  Africa,  an  advance 
of  Mohammedanism  that  is  akin  in  enthusiasm 
and  startling  success  to  the  early  conquest  of 
the  northern  border  of  the  continent.  Thus  "  a 
cordon  of  Mohammedan  states  "  has  been  cre- 
ated along  the  southern  edge  of  the  desert. 
The  Mohammedan  kingdom  of  Sokoto  contains 


Conquest  of  Africa  69 

"vast  walled  cities  of  fifty  and  eighty  and  even 
one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  out  of  which 
caravans  are  always  streaming — to  the  south  to 
raid  for  slaves,  to  the  North-African  states 
across  the  Sahara  to  sell  them."  '  South  of  this 
district  dwell  largely  the  Hausas,  a  splendid 
race  of  men  of  whom  we  have  already  made 
mention.  It  is  said  that  there  are  fifteen  mil- 
lions of  them  ;  they  have  recently  adopted  the 
Mohammedan  rites.2  Fifty  years  ago  Mr. 
Richardson  3  described  the  fanaticism  and  suc- 
cess with  which  the  Fulah  races,  under  the 
influence  of  Mohammedanism,  had  during  the 
preceding  forty  years,  more  or  less,  arisen  to 
fame  and  power.  From  mere  Arab  wanderers 
they  had  become,  by  intermixing  with  the  ne- 
groes in  a  career  of  enlarging  conquest  and 
settlement,  the  leading  people  along  the  south- 
western edge  of  the  Great  Desert.  "  Their 
progress  has  been  the  main  cause  of  the  great 
spread  of  Islam  in  West  Africa  in  the  present 
century."  4     The  Mohammedanism  of  the  Hau- 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  vii.,  505.     2  Ibid.,   505. 

3  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richard- 
son, London,  1848,  i.,  303. 

4  Church  Missionary  Atlas,  i.,  38. 


70  Islam  in  Africa 

sas  and  the  Fulahs  now  holds  that  whole  vast 
region  in  allegiance  to  the  great  prophet.  And 
their  fanaticism  does  not  seem,  as  yet,  to  have 
exhausted  itself.  It  is  largely  throughout  the 
regions  immediately  south  of  these  two  peoples, 
apparently,  that  Mohammedanism  has  lately 
been  making  real  conquest — religious  accession 
as  distinguished  from  mere  slave-raiding.  Dr. 
Blyden  asserts  that  a  quiet,  non-militant  pro- 
gress has  been  going  on  throughout  that  region  ; 
and  he  is  corroborated  by  the  assertion  of  Prof. 
Crummell  that  "  Mohammedanism  is  rapidly 
and  peaceably  spreading  all  through  the  tribes 
of  Western  Africa."  '  Also,  the  Rev.  James 
Johnson,  possibly  a  better  authority  on  the 
matter  than  either  of  the  preceding  two,  has 
asserted  that  "  three-fourths  of  the  additions  to 
Mohammedanism  in  the  region  about  Sierra 
Leone  are  from  conviction  and  not  by  natural 
increase  by  birthright  "  2 ;  though  Bishop  Crow- 
ther  would  modify  this  statement.3  We  seem 
warranted    in    asserting    that    there    has    been 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  199,  202. 

2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  381. 

3  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  iii.,  594. 


Conquest  of  Africa  71 

actual  and  successful  proselytism  by  Islam 
throughout  large  regions  in  the  western  part  of 
North-Central  Africa,  extending  far  towards 
the  east  in  the  great  Soudan.  Dr.  Blyden  as- 
serts that  Mohammedanism  has  gained  control 
of  the  most  energetic  and  enterprising  tribes  in 
Africa. 

"  It  has  built  and  occupies  the  largest  cities  in 
the  heart  of  the  continent  ;  its  laws  regulate  the 
most  powerful  kingdoms,  it  is  daily  gaining  con- 
verts from  the  ranks  of  paganism,  and  it  commands 
respect  among  all  Africans  wherever  it  is  known, 
even  where  the  people  have  not  submitted  to  the 
sway  of  the  Koran."  1 

But  such  statements  may  easily  give  rise  to 
false  inferences  ;  they  must  be  interpreted  and 
limited  by  what  we  have  said  before. 

Indeed  we  cannot  help  thinking  that  there  is 
much  exaggeration  concerning  Mohammedan 
control  and  advance  in  Africa.  Thus  Dr.  Bly- 
den asserts3 :  "  One-half  of  the  whole  continent 
is  dominated  by  Islam ;  while  of  the  remaining 
half,  one-quarter  is  leavened  by  it  and  the  other 
one-quarter    is    threatened    by    it."      Again3: 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Is/am,  and  the  Negro  Race,  6,  7. 

2  The  Church  at  Ho?ne  and  Abroad,  vii.,  409. 

3  Blyden,  Christianity \  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  preface  x. 


72  Islam  in  Africa 

"  Mohammedanism,  by  its  simple,  rigid  forms 
of  worship,  by  its  literature,  its  politics,  its  or- 
ganised society,  its  industry  and  commercial 
activities,  is  rapidly  superseding  a  hoary  and 
pernicious  paganism."  A  general  impression 
has  been  created  by  these  and  similar  state- 
ments to  the  effect  that,  as  Islam  conquered 
North  Africa  in  the  seventh  century,  so  now  it 
is  conquering  Central  and  Southern  Africa  in 
the  nineteenth  century.  But  no  statement 
could  well  be  farther  from  the  truth.  Even 
the  assumption  that  slave-raiding  is  religious 
conquest  will  not  verify  such  an  assertion.  The 
fact  seems  to  be  that  south  of  the  line  of  the 
Mohammedan  states,  from  the  twentieth  to  the 
tenth  parallels  of  latitude  north  of  the  equator, 
Mohammedan  control  is  largely  a  mercantile 
supremacy,  established  by  fire-arms,  involving 
considerable  political  management  of  native 
heathen  tribes.  Such  as  it  is,  Mohammedan- 
ism has  nearly  reached  its  limit  of  expansion  in 
Africa.1  Its  control,  if  such  it  can  be  called, 
will  readily  be  overthrown  with  the  crushing  of 
the  Arab  slave  power — a  process  rapidly  being 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i. ,  97. 


Conquest  of  Africa  73 

accomplished.  Already  the  Arabs  have  been 
checked,  if  not  checkmated,  in  the  Congo 
Free  State.  The  desperate  efforts  that  they 
have  made  to  establish  control  in  the  Nyassa 
region  seem  to  have  been  fully  overcome.  In 
the  revolutions  and  counter-revolutions  in  the 
important  kingdom  of  Uganda,  apparently, 
Mohammedanism  as  represented  by  the  Arab 
traders  has  been  defeated.  The  crushing  de- 
feat of  the  Khalifa  by  General  Kitchener  in 
September,  1898,  seems  a  death-blow.  The 
recent  advance  of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa 
has  reached  its  limit ;  with  the  full  destruction 
of  the  Arab  slave-trader,  the  advance  of  Islam 
will  cease. 


CHAPTER   VI 


ITS  MISSIONARY  CHARACTER 

MOHAMMEDANISM  is  one  of  the  great 
missionary  religions  of  the  world,  though 
its  motives  and  methods  are  largely  low.  Its 
career  throughout  has  been  one  of  proselytism 
through  conquest.  In  this  it  contrasts  mark- 
edly with  Christianity  ;"  for  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  has  made  a  career  rather  of  conquest 
through  proselytism.  But  Christianity  and 
Mohammedanism  are  the  two  great  missionary 
religions  of  the  world.  Buddhism  for  a  while 
went  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer  ;  but  its 
missionary  spirit  has  exhausted  itself  and  is 
not  an  essential  characteristic  of  the  rehVion. 
It  has  been  well  remarked  :  "  When  a  religion 
loses  its  missionary  spirit  it  dies."  It  is  because 
Mohammedanism  is  so  essentially  a  missionary 
religion  that  it  has  so  magnificently  con- 
74 


Its  Missionary  Character        75 

quered ;  and  it  is  because  that  missionary  spirit 
has  been  revived,  and  is  fervent,  in  Africa 
during  this  century  that  we  have  to  meet  the 
great  problems  contained  in  our  subject.  Here 
has  been  one  of  the  greatest  outbreaks  of  mis- 
sionary zeal  that  human  history  presents — but 
on  the  part  of  Mohammedanism  rather  than 
Christianity. 

There  are  certain  fundamental  principles  of 
Islam  which  necessitate  this  missionary  effort, 
and  make  success  comparatively  easy.  Thus, 
it  is  ingrained  in  the  very  constitution  of  the 
true  believer  that  he  is  to  go  out  to  the  infidel ; 
he  is  not  to  wait  for  the  infidel  to  come  to  him. 
The  claims  of  Mohammed  were  emphatic  ;  his 
follower  was  under  obligation  to  force  them 
upon  the  world  around,  and  the  infidel  was 
under  obligation  to  recognise  and  believe.  If 
the  unbeliever  should  refuse,  then  came  the 
forced  choice — "  Believe,  pay  tribute,  or  die." 
As  with  resistless  enthusiasm  the  early  followers 
of  the  prophet  swept  like  "  the  pestilence  that 
walketh  in  darkness  and  the  destruction  that 
wasteth  at  noon-day  "  over  the  world,  as  they 
held  the  drawn  scimitar  over  the  necks  of  pro- 


76  Islam  in  Africa 

strate  nations,  we  can  hardly  wonder  that  large 
masses  of  men  accepted  the  first  of  these  possi- 
bilities, and  consented  to  believe.  There  was 
business  shrewdness,  amounting  almost  to  gen- 
ius, in  the  proposal  of  the  second  of  these  choices 
— pay  tribute ;  for,  after  all  that  may  be  said 
to  the  contrary,  we  must  acknowledge  that, 
with  many,  religious  principle  and  love  of  life 
are  more  precious  than  gold  ;  and  many  there 
were  of  those  times  who  would  pay  tribute 
rather  than  believe  or  die. 

Thus  the  Mohammedan  went  forth ;  but  we 
must  notice  what  an  astonishingly  simple  creed 
he  presented  for  belief.  Simply  say,  "  There  is 
but  one  God  and  Mohammed  is  His  prophet," 
simply  perform  a  few  necessary  acts,  and  you 
are  a  Mohammedan,  safe  here  and  hereafter. 
That  this  statement  is  not  exaggerated,  is 
amply  proved  on  every  side.  Mr.  Richardson 
in  his  travels  through  the  most  fanatical  Moslem 
tribes  of  the  desert  was  constantly  enjoined  to 
confess  himself  as  of  Islam — simply  by  the 
recognition  of  Mohammed  as  the  prophet  of 
God.  Security  was  assured  to  him  if  he  would 
do   this.     Some   few    other  travellers,   notably 


Its  Missionary  Character        77 

Caille,  purchased  security  at  the  price  of  this 
profanation.  It  is  easy  to  confess  with  the  lips 
that  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God,  it  is 
hard  to  pay  tribute,  it  is  bitterness  extreme, 
even  for  a  negro,  to  die  ;  can  we  wonder  at  the 
choice  often  made? 

One  other  consideration  explains  the  ease 
with  which  Islam  has  proselytised,  especially 
in  Africa  :  the  recognition  of  equal  manhood  in 
all  believers  which  Mohammed  earnestly  im- 
pressed upon  his  followers.  Apparently  there 
is  no  religion,  Christianity  not  excepted,  which 
gives  such  practical  illustration  of  the  essential 
equality  of  all  fellow  believers,  whether  white 
or  black,  bond  or  free.  Theoretically,  Christ- 
ianity presents  even  a  higher  basis  of  equality, 
in  that  all  true  believers  are  sons  of  God  ;  but 
as  things  are  at  present,  undoubtedly  Moham- 
medanism, wherever  its  early  enthusiasm  still 
has  sway,  more  completely  obliterates  false  dis- 
tinctions between  man  and  man  and  uncovers 
the  essential  equality  of  believers.  This  prin- 
ciple is  of  especial  avail  in  connection  with 
the  advance  of  Islam  in  Africa.  For  most  of 
the  nations  of  the  Dark  Continent  seem  pecu- 


7%  Islam  in  Africa 

liarly  susceptible  to  the  impression  made  by 
a  stronger  man,  or  nation,  upon  themselves. 
The  white  man  is  readily  recognised  as  super- 
ior, at  least  throughout  a  large  part  of  Africa  ; 
and  the  Arab  with  his  rifle,  his  fighting  slaves, 
his  cruelty,  is  feared  by  the  natives  as  one 
above  themselves.  Now  when  the  superior 
being  receives  the  native  into  something  like 
equality,  simply  on  the  basis  of  Mohammedan 
belief,  it  makes  the  pagan  more  strongly  in 
favour  of  that  religion.  Mohammedanism  tends 
to  break  down  tribal  and  caste  distinctions.  It 
imbues  the  negro  believer  with  a  sense  of  dig- 
nity. It  has  been  remarked  that  "  the  negro 
who  accepts  Mohammedanism  acquires  at  once 
a  sense  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature."1 
Once  a  believer,  there  is  nothing  in  his  colour  or 
race  to  debar  him  from  the  highest  privileges, 
social  or  political,  to  which  any  other  Moslem 
can  attain.2  Said  Mohammed  to  his  followers, 
"  I  admonish  you  to  fear  God  and  yield  obedi- 
ence to  my  successor,  although  he  may  be  a 
black  slave."  3  And  the  Mahdi  said  to  his  slave 
Slatin,  "  In  the  place  of  worship  we  are  all  alike." 

1  Quoted  by  Dr.  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro 
Race,  ii.  2  Ibid.,  18.  3  Ibid.,  2S1. 


Its  Missionary  Character        79 

Here  is  a  combination  of  mighty  influences  at 
work  to  facilitate  the  conversion  of  Africa  to 
Mohammedanism  :  The  impelling  need,  felt  by 
the  true  believer,  to  force  his  religion  upon  the 
infidel ;  the  simple  nature  of  the  creed  presented  ; 
the  preference  of  many  to  believe  rather  than 
to  pay  tribute  or  to  die,  especially  when  belief 
raises  one  into  assured  equality  ;  and  with  this 
potent  fact  in  addition,  that  the  tribe  accepting 
Islam  is  no  longer  subject  to  slave-raids.  But 
this  opens  before  us  a  question  on  which  there 
has  been  much  misapprehension.  Thus  it  has 
been  said,1  "  The  slave  who  becomes  a  Moham- 
medan is  free."  On  the  contrary,  the  testimony 
throughout  Africa  is  that  surely  there  are 
slaves  that  are  Mohammedans,  whether  or  not 
converted  in  slavery ;  and  apparently  Moham- 
medans do  make  actual  Mohammedans  slaves. 
Mr.  Richardson  in  his  travels  in  the  desert a 
speaks  of  the  slaves  in  the  town  of  Ghadames  as 
"  mostly  devout  if  not  fanatic  Mussulmans." 
We  are  warranted  in  assertine  that  there  is  at 


1  Blyden,   Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  ATeg7-o  Race,  18. 

2  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richard- 
son, London,  1848,  i.,  195. 


8o  Islam  in  Africa 

least  a  spirit  of  fraternity  throughout  Islam  that 
gives  it  tremendous  advantage  in  Africa.  Mo- 
hammedanism "  does  not  abolish  slavery,  but  it 
does  take  away  its  sting  " — so  far  as  Mohamme- 
dans are  concerned.  "  Equality  of  all  men  before 
God  was  a  principle  which  Mohammed  every- 
where maintained  ;  and  which,  taking  as  it  did 
all  caste  feeling  from  slavery,  took  away  also  its 
chief  sin."  '  Certainly  Islam  rises  far  above 
that  narrow  prejudice  against  the  negro  which 
characterises  too  largely  the  white  Christians — 
as  illustrated  by  Dr.  E.  A.  Freeman's  statement, 
"  The  law  may  declare  the  negro  to  be  the 
equal  of  the  white  man,  but  it  cannot  make 
him  his  equal."  Or  in  Mr.  Thomas  Carlyle's 
assertion  that  "  God  has  put  a  whip  in  the 
hand  of  every  white  man  to  flog  the  negro." ' 
On  the  contrary,  Mohammedan  history  abounds 
with  examples  of  distinguished  negroes.  Billal, 
a  slave,  a  black  man,  a  favourite  of  Mohammed, 
the  first  muezzin  or  caller  to  prayer,  was  once 
addressed  by  the  great  prophet  somewhat  in 

1  Mohanimed and  Mohammedanism,  R.  Bosworth  Smith,  203. 

2  Quoted  by  Dr.  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro 
Race,  333,  337. 


Its  Missionary  Character        81 

this  way  :  "  What  shoes  were  those  you  wore 
last  night  ?  Verily,  as  I  journeyed  into  Paradise 
and  was  mounting  the  stairs  of  God,  I  heard 
your  footsteps  before  me,  though  I  could  not 
see." 

Into  three  phrases  we  may  condense  the 
description  and  explanation  of  Mohammedan 
missionary  advance  in  Africa — native  agents, 
simple  methods,  intolerant  zeal. 

It  is  largely  through  native  agency  that 
Islam  has  been  propagated  in  Africa.  For  the 
Arabs  that  penetrate  the  interior,  whether  for 
good  or  ill,  may  now  be  called  natives  of  the 
country.  They  are  recognised  by  the  negro  as 
in  it,  if  not  fully  of  it.  In  the  wide  inclusiveness 
of  the  races  to  which  we  have  already  referred 
concerning  Africa,  the  Arabs  are  now  certainly 
of  the  native  population.  Even  the  invaders 
of  Zanzibar,  a  century  ago,  have  made  Africa 
their  home  and  have  identified  themselves, 
though  disastrously,  with  the  native  races. 
The  difference  between  the  white  man  and  the 
Arab,  in  native  estimation,  shows  clearly  that 
the  Arab  is  to  be  counted  an  as  indigenous 
agent. 

6 


82  Islam  in  Africa 

But  Mohammedanism  makes  use  of  other 
agents,  more  closely  allied  to  the  negro,  in 
securing  its  advance.  Let  us  refer  again  to  the 
Hausas  and  the  Fulahs  as  perhaps  the  most 
conspicuous  agents  in  the  great  advance  of 
Mohammedanism  throughout  Western  and 
Central  Soudan.  These  magnificent  tribes,  one 
purely  negro  and  the  other  mixed  but  now 
essentially  native,  have  carried  Mohammedan- 
ism through  the  forests,  from  the  desert  to  the 
ocean  in  one  direction,  and  to  the  lakes  in  the 
other. 

Much  has  been  said  of  late  concerning  the 
great  University  of  Cairo  as  a  training-school 
for  native  agents  of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa. 
Dr.  Blyden  quotes  the  following  description 
of  this  great  institution  at  Cairo — the  educa- 
tional pride  and  glory  of  Islam. 

"  This  university  is  nine  hundred  years  old 
(older  than  Oxford),  and  still  flourishes  with  as 
much  vigour  as  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  Arabian 
conquest.  There  I  saw  collected  ten  thousand  stu- 
dents. As  one  expressed  it  '  there  were  two  acres 
of  turbans '  assembled  in  a  vast  enclosure,  with  no 
floor  but  a  pavement,  and  with  a  roof  over  it  sup- 
ported by  four  hundred  columns,  and  at  the  foot 


Its  Missionary  Character        03 

of  every  column  a  teacher  surrounded  by  his  pupils. 
These  students  are  from  all  parts  of  Africa.  .  .  . 
When  their  studies  are  ended,  those  who  are  to  be 
missionaries  mount  their  camels,  and,  joining  a 
caravan  across  the  desert,  are  lost  in  the  far  interior 
of  Africa."  ' 

On  the  other  hand,  take  the  report  of  Gen- 
eral Haig,  sent  out  by  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  about  the  year  1887.2  He  makes  an 
intelligent  statement  to  the  effect  that  he  had 
never  heard  of  missionaries  being  sent  out  from 
the  college  to  spread  the  faith  anywhere,  and 
did  not  believe  that  there  was  any  organisation 
for  Central  Africa.  According  to  his  statement, 
the  number  of  students  in  the  Ashar  varies  ac- 
cording to  political  events.  Just  before  a  great 
conscription,  the  number  is  enlarged  with  a 
view  of  avoiding  the  enlistment.  Sometimes 
the  number  reaches  eight  thousand.  Weighing 
testimony,  taking  into  consideration  the  state- 
ments of  various  travellers  and  writers,  we  are 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  Dr.  Blyden's  as- 
sertions concerning  this  monumental  institution 
in  Cairo  are  greatly  exaggerated— particularly 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  191. 
3  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  ii.,  4S6. 


84  Islam  in  Africa 

with  regard  to  the  missionary  work  of  its  grad- 
uates in  Africa.  A  careful  study  of  available 
facts  will,  we  are  persuaded,  lead  to  the  con- 
clusion that  Mohammedan  advance  is  not  due 
to  a  missionary  propaganda  such  as  we  are  ac- 
customed to  think  of  in  connection  with  Christ- 
ian work,  and  such  as  has  been  attributed  on  a 
large  scale  to  the  Cairo  University.  Undoubt- 
edly many  native  Africans  attend  that  school 
of  the  faith.  Certainly  Mohammedan  educa- 
tional effort,  as  we  shall  see,  is  made  elsewhere 
in  Africa.  There  seems  to  be  clear  testimony 
to  the  effect  that  Mohammedan  teachers,  of  a 
certain  sort,  roam  through  the  land  ;  and  doubt- 
less they  have  some  influence  as  missionaries.1 
But  the  indigenous  agency  on  which  Moham- 
medanism principally  depends  is  the  power  of 
the  native  Mohammedan  state,  exerted  might- 
ily to  conquer  and  thereby  convert. 

Accepting,  however,  the  assertions  that  some 
individuals  go  forth  throughout  many  of  the 
pagan  tribes  and  regions  of  Africa  teaching 
Mohammedanism, — though  largely  for  purposes 
of  personal  gain, —  it  is  interesting  to  notice  the 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  431. 


Its  Missionary  Character        85 

simple  methods  which  are  pursued  in  making 
this  advance.  Dr.  Blyden's  description  of  these 
Mohammedan  missionaries  is  almost  pathetic. 

"  In  going  from  town  to  town,  and  village  to  vil- 
lage, they  go  simply  as  the  bearers  of  God's  truth. 
They  take  their  mats  or  their  skins,  and  their  manu- 
scripts, and  are  followed  by  their  pupils,  who  in 
every  new  pagan  town  form  the  nucleus  of  a  school 
and  congregation.  These  preachers  are  the  re- 
ceivers, not  the  dispensers,  of  charity."  ! 

"  The  Arab  missionaries  whom  we  have  met  in 
the  interior  go  about  without  *  purse  or  scrip  '  and 
disseminate  their  religion  by  quietly  teaching  the 
Koran.  The  native  missionaries — Mandingoes  and 
Fulahs — unite  with  the  propagation  of  their  faith 
active  trading.  Wherever  they  go  they  produce 
the  impression  that  they  are  not  preachers  only, 
but  traders — but,  on  the  other  hand,  that  they  are 
not  traders  merely,  but  preachers.  And  in  this 
way,  silently  and  almost  unobtrusively,  they  are 
causing  princes  to  become  obedient  disciples  and 
zealous  propagators  of  Islam.  Their  converts  as  a 
general  thing  become  Muslims  from  choice  and 
conviction,  and  bring  all  the  manliness  of  their 
former  condition  to  the  maintenance  and  support 
of  their  new  creed."  2 

"  Local    institutions   were   not    destroyed   when 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  194. 
*  Ibid.,  13. 


86  Islam  in  Africa 

Arab  influences  were  introduced.  They  only  as- 
sumed new  forms  and  adapted  themselves  to  the 
new  teachings.  In  all  thriving  Mohammedan  com- 
munities in  West  and  Central  Africa,  it  may  be 
noticed  that  the  Arab  superstructure  has  been 
superimposed  on  a  permanent  indigenous  substruct- 
ure ;  so  that  what  really  took  place,  when  the  Arab 
met  the  negro  in  his  own  home,  was  a  healthy 
amalgamation,  and  not  an  absorption  or  an  undue 
repression."  ' 

"After  the  first  conquests  of  the  Muslims  in 
North  Africa,  their  religion  advanced  southwards 
into  the  continent,  not  by  armies  but  by  schools 
and  books  and  mosques ;  by  trade  and  inter- 
marriage." a 

And  Mr.  Bosworth  Smith  asserts  concerning- 
Mohammedanism  in  Africa  that  "  it  has  spread, 
not  by  the  sword,  but  by  earnest  and  simple- 
minded  Arab  missionaries." 

We  have  already  ventured  to  dissent  from 
some  of  these  statements,  so  positively  made 
concerning  Islam  and  its  advance  in  Africa.  In 
connection  with  the  political  character  of  Mo- 
hammedanism in  Africa,  we  shall  attempt  to 
see  this  more  clearly.     Bishop  Crowther  says,3 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  356. 
*  Ibid.,  14. 

3  Quoted  in  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity,  F.  F.  Ellin- 
wood,  D.D.,  210. 


Its  Missionary  Character        %7 

"  The  real  vocation  of  these  so-called  quiet  apos- 
tles of  the  Koran  is  that  of  fetish  peddlers  "  ; 
and  in  view  of  exaggerations  of  statement  that 
we  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  as  made  by 
Dr.  Blyden,  Canon  Taylor,  and  those  who  re- 
assert their  conclusions,  we  can  only  say  that 
the  authority  of  Bishop  Crowther  is  to  be 
trusted  in  any  contradiction.  It  seems  evident 
that  the  picture  of  Mohammedan  missionaries, 
just  quoted,  is,  to  some  extent,  poetic  im- 
agination. 

After  making  all  due  allowance,  we  are  left 
with  these  simple  facts:  that  indigenous  agents 
have  been  at  work,  particularly  throughout 
Western  and  Central  Soudan,  hardly  in  the 
beautiful  and  self-denying  way  described  ;  rather 
as  men  seeking  self-support  by  means  more  or 
less  honourable,  but  carrying  with  them  as  they 
go,  teachings  of  Mohammedanism  and  the  Ko- 
ran. They  familiarise  the  pagan  tribes  with 
Islam.  Doubtless  they  win  some  converts. 
When  compulsion  comes  through  political 
events,  when  the  dreadful  alternative  is  pre- 
sented, "  Mohammedanism  or  slavery,"  the 
choice  is  made  the  more  easy.     Another  tribe 


88  Islam  in  Africa 

ranges  itself  nominally,  and  perhaps  actually, 
under  the  name  of  the  prophet  of  God. 

In  this  missionary  advance,  the  sword  and 
preaching,  the  soldier  and  the  missionary,  the 
state  and  the  individual,  supplement  each  other. 
An  intolerant  zeal  is  shown.  To  some  extent 
it  is  true  that  "  in  Africa  is  the  most  fanatical 
and  proselytising  portion  of  the  Mussulman 
world,  in  its  negro  converts."1 

Mr.  Richardson,  throughout  the  Sahara  Des- 
ert, not  only  saw  but  felt  the  fierce  fanaticism 
of  the  Mohammedanism  of  that  region.  Said 
a  Touarik  to  him  :  "  You  are  a  Christian  ;  the 
people  of  Timbuctoo  will  kill  you  unless  you 
confess  Mohammed  to  be  the  prophet  of  God." a 
"  To  have  said  a  word,  or  even  to  have  breathed 
a  syllable,  of  disrespect  about  Mohammedanism 
would  have  exposed  me  to  have  been  torn  to 
pieces  by  the  Mohammedans."  3  "  It  is  next 
to  impossible  to  induce  the  Sahara  Moham- 
medans to  think  favourably  of  Christianity."4 

1  Eastern  Church,  Dean  Stanley,  259. 

2  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1848,  i.,  118. 

3  Ibid.,  ii.,  25. 
*Md.,  ii.,83. 


Its  Missionary  Character       89 

Mr.  Anderson,  a  negro  of  Liberia,  made  a 
journey  to  Musardu,  the  capital  city  of  the 
western  Mandingoes.  In  his  description  of 
this  fine  race  of  negroes,  speaking  of  their  mis- 
sionary activity,  he  says  ' :  "  Their  zeal  for  Islam 
has  caused  the  name  of  Mohammed  to  be  pro- 
nounced in  this  part  of  Africa,  where  it  other- 
wise would  never  have  been  mentioned."  Slatin 
Pasha,  in  order  to  retain  the  obedience  of  his 
soldiers  against  the  rising  Mahdism,  thought 
that  he  had  to  become  a  convert  to  Islam.2 

It  is  made  evident  by  a  consensus  of  testi- 
mony that  in  North  Africa  Mohammedanism  is 
furiously  fanatic  ;  extending  to  violent  hatred 
of  all  who  are  not  Mohammedans.  In  approach- 
ing Central  Africa,  we  find  this  zeal  gradually 
less  intolerant — though  burning  fiercely  enough 
to  make  the  Mohammedan  tribes  and  rulers 
desirous  of  impressing  their  religion  upon  neigh- 
bouring tribes.  Even  in  Central  Africa,  the 
Mohammedan  law  threatens  with  death  both 
the  proselytised    and    proselytiser 3 ;    but    this 

1  Journey  to  Musardu,  6. 

3  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  217. 

8  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  vii.,  507. 


9°  Islam  in  Africa 

seems  to  be  directed  simply  against  renegades. 
The  zeal  which  animates  the  "  earnest  and  sim- 
ple-minded missionaries  of  Mohammedanism  " 
is  sufficiently  mixed  with  selfishness  to  make 
them  more  tolerant  than  the  furies  of  early 
Mohammedan  history,  and  than  the  fanatics  of 
the  desert  of  the  present  day.  But,  wherever 
it  goes,  there  are  the  elements,  whether  or  not 
there  is  the  exhibition,  of  that  terrible  intoler- 
ance of  zeal,  which,  when  logically  developed, 
points  the  sword  at  the  throat  of  everyone, 
everywhere,  who  ventures  to  deny  that  Mo- 
hammed is  the  great  prophet  of  God. 

For  this  intolerance  is  an  essential  element  in 
Mohammedanism  l  :  "  there  is  no  precept  in  the 
Koran  enjoining  love  to  enemies."  The  follow- 
ing is  said  to  be  a  literal  translation  of  a  mis- 
sionary prayer  which  is  offered  every  evening 
in  the  great  university  at  Cairo : 

"  O  Lord  of  all  creatures,  O  Allah  !  destroy  the 
infidels  and  polytheists,  Thine  enemies,  the  enemies 
of  the  religion.  O  Allah  !  make  their  children 
orphans  and  defile  their  abodes  ;  cause  their  feet 

1  The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem,  II.  II.  Jesup, 
30-32. 


Its  Missionary  Character        91 

to  slip  ;  give  them  and  their  families,  their  house- 
holds and  their  women,  their  children  and  their 
relations  by  marriage,  their  brothers  and  their 
friends,  their  possessions  and  their  race,  their 
wealth  and  their  lands,  as  booty  to  the  Moslems. 
O  Lord  of  all  creatures  !  fight  Thou  against  them, 
till  strife  be  at  an  end,  and  the  religion  be  all  of 
it  God's.  Fight  Thou  against  them  until  they  pay 
tribute  by  right  of  subjection,  and  they  be  reduced 
low." 

Intolerance ;  elemental  in  all  Mohammed- 
anism, potential  in  the  Mohammedanism  of 
Africa,  considerably  modified  as  exhibited  in 
Central  Africa  ; — this  is  what  we  find. 

Such  is  the  zeal,  such  are  the  methods,  such 
are  the  agents — all  of  which  indicate  the  mis- 
sionary character  of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa. 


CHAPTER   VII 


ITS   POLITICAL    CHARACTER 


IN  Mohammedanism  there  is  no  divorce  be- 
tween Church  and  State.  The  modern, 
Western  idea,  that  the  spheres  of  religion  and 
politics  are  separable,  has  no  place  in  Moham- 
medan thought.  The  teaching  and  the  example 
of  Mohammed  stimulated  his  followers  to  rule 
as  well  as  to  preach,  to  conquer  as  well  as  to 
convert.  The  government  of  the  world  is  given 
to  the  faithful,  so  far  as  they  can  seize  it.  The 
formula,  "  Believe,  pay  tribute,  or  die,"  involves 
political  as  well  as  religious  ascendency.  The 
Sultan  is  temporally  as  well  as  spiritually  chief. 
The  great  leaders  of  Mohammedanism  have 
evidenced  themselves  such  by  warfare  as  well 
as  by  piety — "  half-military,  half-religious  gen- 
iuses, which  Islam  always  seems  capable  of  pro- 
92 


Its  Political  Character  93 

ducing."  1  The  divine  right  of  kings  was  never 
more  emphatically  asserted,  whether  by  the 
Stuarts  of  England  or  the  Bourbons  of  France, 
than,  for  example,  by  one  of  the  Mahdist  gen- 
erals in  a  letter  to  Emin   Pasha2: 

"So  now  we  have  come  .  .  .  sent  to  you  from 
his  Mightiness  the  great  Chief  of  all  the  Muslims, 
the  ever  victorious  in  his  religion,  who  relies  on 
God  as  the  Lord  of  the  world,  Khalifa,  the  Mahdi, 
may  God  be  gracious  unto  him  !  .  .  .  with  his 
sacred  orders,  which  are  orders  of  God  and  his 
prophet." 

In  Africa,  as  elsewhere,  Islam  seeks  to  seize  po- 
litical control  quite  as  eagerly  as  to  make  actual 
converts.  Practically,  for  it, the  twoare  identical. 
Take  for  illustration  the  attempt  to  proselytise 
King  Mtesa,  of  the  great  Uganda  kingdom,  and 
to  control  his  successor.  This  seems  to  be  a 
principle  of  Mohammedan  advance  in  Africa — 
to  convert  tribes  and  kingdoms,  rather  than  in- 
dividuals. In  this  is  revealed  the  "  aggressive 
spirit "  which  Dr.  Jesup  3  asserts  as  one  of  the 

1  R.  Bosworth  Smith.  Quoted  in  Christianity,  Islam,  and 
the  Negro  Race,  Blyden,  n. 

2  Shall  Islam  Rule  Africa?  Rev.  L.  C.  Barnes,  15. 

3  The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem,  H.  H.  Jesup,  53, 


94  Islam  in  Africa 

elements  of  Mohammedanism,  and  which  is 
evident  throughout  the  whole  history  of  Islam. 
But  the  traditional  method  of  conquest  and 
proselytism  combined  cannot  be  applied  invari- 
ably in  Africa.  Mohammedanism  is  not  now 
strong  enough  in  the  Dark  Continent,  or  is  not 
zealous  enough,  to  conquer  throughout  the 
native  kingdoms  of  the  interior  as,  in  the  early 
days  of  the  religion,  it  conquered  throughout 
Asia  and  North  Africa  and  in  Europe.  To 
some  extent  a  crafty  political  management  of 
native  rulers  is  attempted.  Mr.  Arnot '  de- 
scribes the  efforts  of  the  Arabs  "  to  poison  the 
mind  "  of  King  Msidi,  of  that  region,  against 
the  English  in  general  and  Mr.  Arnot  in  par- 
ticular. "  For  the  Arabs  have  been  long  in 
communication  with  the  Garenganze  country — 
famous  all  over  Eastern  Africa  for  its  copper 
and  salt."  King  Msidi  was  wise  :  after  listen- 
ing to  a  long  harangue  from  them,  he  quickly 
replied :  "  I  am  sure  I  cannot  answer  your 
words.  I  do  not  know  these  English  people. 
I  certainly  do  not  know  this  man  who  is  now 
coming    [Arnot]  ;    but    one   thing    I    know — I 

1  Garenganze,  Arnot,  174. 


Its  Political  Character  95 

know  you  Arabs."  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind 
that  this  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Arabs  was, 
apparently,  rather  for  trade  advantage  than  for 
religious  advance  ;  but  throughout  all  consider- 
ation of  the  Mohammedan  problem  in  Central 
Africa,  the  identification  of  these  two  is  so  close 
that  the  one  can  hardly  be  separated  from  the 
other.  Particularly  is  this  true  concerning  the 
horrible  slave-traffic.  The  intertwinings  of  this 
infamous  business  and  of  Mohammedan  prose- 
lytism  are  so  close  and  intricate  that  sup- 
pression has  thus  far  been  impossible,  and 
advance  of  Mohammedanism  and  extension  of 
the  slave-trade  are  almost  or  quite  identical. 
The  rise  of  Mahdism  in  the  Soudan  gave  great 
impulse  to  the  slave-trade.1  It  seems  to  be  evi- 
dent that  the  Arab  in  Central  Africa  is  first  a 
slave-trader,  then  a  Mohammedan.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  understand  this  combination  of  business 
and  religious  interests  on  the  part  of  the  Moham- 
medan agents,  in  order  to  comprehend  the  ad- 
vance and  influence  of  Islam  in  Africa.  Of  this 
attempted  political  control  by  Mohammedanism, 
another  and  more  striking  illustration  is  to  be 

1  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  554. 


96  Islam  in  Africa 

seen  in  the  restless  efforts  of  the  Mohammedans 
to  control  the  king  and  kingdom  of  Uganda — 
perhaps  the  most  important  in  Central  Africa. 
It  is  said1 

"  that  when  Mr.  Stanley's  letter  from  Uganda 
was  published,  indicating  a  willingness  on  the  part 
of  King  Mtesa  to  abandon  Islamism  and  accept 
Christianity,  the  Turkish  journals  took  up  the  sub- 
ject with  great  fervour.  A  Moslem  Missionary  Soci- 
ety was  formed  in  Constantinople,  and  subscriptions 
raised,  to  send  Arab  missionaries  to  confirm  King 
Mtesa  in  the  faith." 

The  plan  may  have  been  dropped,  but  the  fact 
proves  the  Mohammedan  method  in  Africa,  to 
control  politically.  They  wanted  to  gain  that 
kingdom  by  controlling  that  king.  This  has 
been  their  course  in  cases  innumerable  through- 
out Central  Africa — a  crafty  interference  with 
native  politics,  in  such  way  that  personal  ambi- 
tion, trade,  and  religious  zeal  may  be  satisfied. 
In  the  African  type  of  Mohammedanism, 
there  is  an  elasticity  that  enables  it  to  adapt 
itself  to  native  ideas.     This  has  been  one  great 

o 

reason  for  Mohammedan  political  advance. 
"  King  Mtesa  can  retain  his  one  hundred  wives 

1  The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem,  H.  H.  Jesup,  54. 


Its  Political  Character  97 

and  be  a  good  Moslem  still,"  1  in  spite  of  the  re- 
strictions of  the  Koran  as  to  such  an  unneces- 
sary number  of  helpmates.  And  it  is  not  sim- 
ply in  matters  like  this,  of  royal  prerogative  and 
dignity  according  to  native  African  ideas,  that 
the  elasticity  of  Mohammedanism  reveals  itself ; 
in  the  more  important  concerns  of  superstitious 
belief  it  shrewdly  avoids  contradiction  of  native 
habits  and  desires,  and  thus  wins  political  su- 
premacy. "  The  Mussulman  missionaries  ex- 
hibit a  forbearance,  a  sympathy,  and  a  respect 
for  native  customs  and  prejudices  and  even  for 
their  more  harmless  beliefs  which  is  no  doubt 
one  reason  of  their  success,  and  which  our  own 
missionaries  and  schoolmasters  would  do  well 
to  imitate."2  Such  euphemistic  statements 
concerning  the  "  harmless  beliefs  "  of  the  native 
African  as  allowed  by  Mohammedanism  are 
somewhat  surprising  when  we  consider  what 
ideas  and  practices  are  included  in  that  remark- 
able phrase.  It  is,  however,  an  interesting 
feature  of  Mohammedanism  in  Central  Africa, 
that  the  native  can  be  largely  what  he  was  be- 

1  The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem,  H.  H,  Jesup,  57. 

2  Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism,  R.  Bosworth  Smith,  58. 


9$  Islam  in  Africa 

fore  conversion,  and  what  he  still  desires  to  be, 
if  only  he  will  say,  "  There  is  one  God  and  Mo- 
hammed is  His  prophet,"  and  if  political  ascend- 
ency be  allowed  to  the  representatives  of  that 
religion.  Control  rather  than  conversion,  politi- 
cal power  rather  than  individual  change  of 
heart  and  life,  is  what  Islam  seeks  in  Africa. 

But  throughout  all  this  somewhat  diplomatic 
dealing  of  Mohammedanism  with  the  pagan 
kingdoms  of  Africa,  the  main  reliance  is  ever 
on  the  sword,  or  rather  on  the  spear.  For  mili- 
tancy has  always  been  an  essential  feature  of 
Islam.  A  believer  must  impress  the  truth  upon 
the  infidel,  by  force  if  necessary.  If  he  dies  in 
the  attempt,  so  much  the  better  for  him — "  The 
gate  to  Paradise  lies  between  drawn  swords." 
The  Mohammedan  soldier  dying  in  battle,  and 
the  Mohammedan  missionary  trader  dying  of 
fever,  both  seeking  the  conquest  of  the  infidel, 
go  straight  to  Paradise.  It  is  the  direct  route, 
the  surest  claim.  This  thought  of  death  on  the 
field  of  battle  as  a  leap  into  Paradise  was  the 
inspiration  of  the  early  conquests.  Doubtless 
it  has  operated  largely  in  fanning  the  ferocity 
of  the  dervishes  of  our  own  day,  who  have  re- 


Its  Political  Character  99 

produced  in  the  Soudan  the  history  of  the  first 
century  of  Mohammedanism.  Thus  the  Mahdi 
spoke,  concerning  some  messengers  of  his  who 
had  been  executed  '  : 

"  My  messengers  have  obtained  what  they  most 
desired  ;  when  they  took  the  letters  from  me  they 
sought  the  death  of  martyrs,  and  their  wish  was 
fulfilled.  The  merciful  God  has  granted  them 
their  hearts'  desire,  and  now  they  are  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  all  the  pleasures  of  Paradise.  May  God 
grant  that  we  may  follow  in  their  footsteps  !  " 

In  the  Turkish  Empire  now,  in  all  true  Mo- 
hammedanism, the  army  is  a  religious  body. 
It  is  composed  of  Mohammedans,  and  supports 
Mohammedanism.  "  A  convert  to  Christianity 
from  Islam  [in  Turkey]  is  arrested  as  a  renegade 
from  the  conscription.  Apostasy  from  the 
Mohammedan  religion  is  thus,  in  Turkey,  trea- 
son to  the  Mohammedan  state." 2  Even  Mr. 
Bosworth  Smith  recognises  that  the  sword  is 
"  an  essential  part  "  of  Mohammedanism.3  The 
famous  ninth  sura  of  the  Koran,  flashing  like 
the  scimitar  of  Saladin  as  he  whirled  it  under 

1  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  177. 

2  The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem,  H.  H.  Jesup,  27. 
z  Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism,  R.  Bosworth  Smith,  169. 


ico  Islam  in  Africa 

the  Syrian  sun  against  the  Crusaders,  has  been 
the  inspiration  of  the  faithful  of  Africa  as  well 
as  elsewhere.  For  in  spite  of  the  quotations 
from  the  Koran  which  Dr.  Blyden  adduces  to 
prove  the  tolerance  of  Mohammed  towards  the 
"  belief  of  the  book,"  '  and  in  spite  of  his  at- 
tempt to  explain  the  application  of  the  ninth 
sura  as  referring  "  to  the  treatment  to  be  ac- 
corded by  them  to  those  Arabs  who  join  the 
worship  of  idols  with  that  of  the  true  God," 
both  the  plain  meaning  of  the  sura  itself  and 
the  development  of  that  meaning  in  the  history 
of  Mohammedanism  prove  that  war,  conquest, 
is  enjoined  upon  the  faithful  against  the  infidel. 
The  "  Jihad,"  the  holy  war,  is  a  conspicuous 
feature  of  Mohammedanism  throughout,  and 
has  had  its  place  markedly  in  the  history  of 
Islam  in  Africa :  in  this  idea  largely  lay  the 
strength  of  Mahdism.2 

The  native  African  is  by  no  means  the  con- 
temptible opponent  in  warfare  that  the  super- 
cilious European  has  sometimes  asserted.    The 

'Blyden,  Christianity \  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  291. 

2  For  some  interesting  suggestions  concerning  the  "  Law  of 
Jihad,"  incidentally  confirming  this  statement,  see  Faith  of 
Islam,  Sell,  359. 


Its  Political  Character         101 

Waganda  army  is  described  '  as  showing  a  high 
state  of  efficiency.  The  prowess  of  the  Zulus 
has  been  attested  by  Europeans  at  great  cost. 
The  ferocity  of  the  Masais  is  terrible.  The 
courage  and  endurance  of  the  Eastern  Soudan- 
ese won  the  fear  as  well  as  respect  of  the  Eng- 
lish soldiers  who  were  repulsed  by  them.  When 
under  the  inspiration  of  Mohammedan  zeal, 
these  African  soldiers  may  become  absolutely 
terrible.  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley  has  said 2 :  "lam 
certain  our  men  would  much  prefer  to  fight  the 
best  European  troops  rather  than  the  same 
number  of  Mohammedan  warriors  who  were 
under  the  influence  of  Mohammedan  fanatic- 
ism." What  an  illustration  of  this  heroic 
bravery  was  given  by  the  dervishes  in  the  battle 
of  Omdurman  ! 

Such  are  the  warriors  that  Mohammedanism 
sends  forth  to  holy  conquest. 

"  When  a  heathen  tribe  or  nation  is  aimed  at,  a 
choice  is  proposed  to  the  chief— the  Koran  or  the 
sword.  On  his  choosing  the  Koran,  the  whole  tribe 
is  counted  as  Mohammedan  and  the  chiefs  are  pro- 

1  Uganda  and  the  Egyptian  Soudan,  Wilson  and  Felkin,  i., 
336.  2  Public  Opinion,  vii.,  210. 


io2  Islam  in  Africa 

moted.  But  if  a  refusal  is  given,  war  is  declared 
against  the  tribe  ;  the  destruction  of  their  country- 
is  the  consequence,  and  horrible  bloodshedding. 
The  aged  males  and  females  are  massacred,  whilst 
the  salable  are  led  away  as  prisoners  of  war 
(slaves).  As  the  religion  sanctions  slave-wars  and 
slavery,  its  professors  do  not  sympathise  with  the 
miseries  produced  by  them.  They  shut  their  eyes 
and  tender  feelings  to  these  atrocities,  and  the 
gains  and  profits  they  reap  therefrom  are  con- 
sidered their  reward  as  faithful  followers  of  the 
prophet " ' 

These  Jihads,  military  expeditions  to  bring 
pagans  to  the  faith,  have  been  "  carried  on  with 
wonderful  activity  and  success  during  the  last 
fifty  years."  a 

The  story  of  Samudu  is  a  startling  illustration 
of  this  politico-religious  advance  of  Mohammed- 
anism in  Central  Africa.  He  was  born  about 
fifty  years  ago  in  the  Mandingo  country,  east 
of  Liberia.  This  is  a  translation  of  the  open- 
ing paragraphs  of  a  narrative  of  his  proceedings 
by  a  native  chronicler  3 : 

"  This  is  an  account  of  the  Jihad  of  the  Imam 

1  Bishop  Crowther,  quoted  in  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad, 
iii.,  594- 

2  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  357. 

3  Ibid. 


Its  Political  Character        103 

Ahmadu  Samudu,  a  Mandingo,  an  inhabitant  of 
the  town  of  Sanankodu,  in  the  extreme  part  of  the 
Koniah  country.  God  conferred  upon  Him  his 
help  continually  after  he  began  the  work  of  visiting 
the  idolatrous  pagans  who  dwell  between  the  sea 
and  the  country  of  Wasulu,  with  a  view  of  inviting 
them  to  follow  the  religion  of  God,  which  is  Islam. 
Know  all  ye  who  read  this — that  the  first  effort  of 
the  Imam  Samudu  was  at  a  town  named  Fulindi- 
jah.  Following  the  book  and  the  law,  and  the 
tradition,  he  sent  messengers  to  the  king  at  that 
town,  Sindidu  by  name,  inviting  him  to  submit  to 
his  government,  abandon  the  worship  of  idols,  and 
worship  one  God,  the  Exalted,  the  True,  whose 
service  is  profitable  to  his  people  in  this  world  and 
in  the  next ;  but  they  refused  to  submit.  Then  he 
imposed  a  tribute  upon  them,  as  the  Koran  com- 
mands on  this  subject  ;  but  they  persisted  in  their 
blindness  and  defence.  The  Imam  then  collected 
a  small  force  of  about  five  hundred  men,  brave  and 
valiant,  for  the  Jihad,  and  he  fought  against  the 
town,  and  the  Lord  helped  him  against  them,  and 
he  pursued  them  with  his  horses  until  they  sub- 
mitted. Nor  will  they  return  to  their  idolatry,  for 
now  all  their  children  are  in  schools,  being  taught 
the  Koran,  and  a  knowledge  of  religion  and  civil- 
isation. Alimami  Samudu  then  went  to  another 
idolatrous  town  called  Wurukud,  surrounded  by  a 
strong  wall,  and  skilfully  defended,"  etc. 

The  career  of  this  West-African  illustrator  of 


io4  Islam  in  Africa 

Mohammedanism  continued  unchecked,  until 
he  became  notorious,  not  simply  in  Africa,  but 
throughout.  The  atrocities  of  his  "  holy  wars  " 
are  indescribable.     Thus  an  official  report  runs  : 

"  The  people  of  the  states  to  the  south  of  Futa 
Djallon  are  pagans,  and  Samudu  makes  their  re- 
ligion a  pretext  for  his  outrages.  He  is  desirous  of 
converting  them  to  the  '  true  faith  '  and  his  modes 
of  persuasion  are  murder  and  slavery.  Miles  of 
road  strewn  with  human  bones  ;  blackened  ruins 
where  were  peaceful  hamlets  ;  desolation  and  emp- 
tiness where  were  smiling  plantations.  What  has 
become  of  the  tens  of  thousands  of  peaceful  agri- 
culturists, their  wives  and  their  innocent  child- 
ren ?  gone  !  converted  after  Samudu's  manner  to 
the  'true  faith.'  "  1 

These  holy  wars,  with  their  horrible  confus- 
ion of  selfishness  and  religious  zeal,  have  been 
conducted  widely  by  such  tribes  as  the  Fulahs 
-—fiercely  Mohammedan.  But  perhaps  the 
completest  illustration  is  to  be  found  in  the  hist- 
ory of  the  Mahdist  uprising  in  Eastern  Soudan, 
with  which  the  name  of  General  Gordon  is  hero- 
ically identified  as  martyr  and  General  Kitch- 
ener  as   conqueror.     It    is   perhaps    the  most 

1  Quoted  in  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity,  F.  F. 
Ellinwood,  D.D.,  205. 


Its  Political  Character        105 

conspicuous  of  all  the  later  eruptions  of  Mo- 
hammedan zeal.  A  certain  Mohammed  Ahmed, 
born  in  1843  m  Dongola,  claimed  to  be  a  true 
descendant  of  Mohammed  through  his  daughter 
Fatima.  It  is  said  that  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years  he  knew  a  large  part  of  the  Koran  by 
heart.  He  studied  under  a  famous  "  saint," 
and  was  ordained  as  a  priest.  For  fifteen  years 
he  lived  an  austere  life  ;  fasting,  praying,  and 
meditating  on  the  mission  to  which  he  would 
eventually  give  himself.  He  was  aware  of  the 
"shadowy  expectations"  of  the  Shiite  Mo- 
hammedans, who  were  looking  for  the  speedy 
coming  of  the  long-expected  Mahdi.  He  es- 
tablished a  school  of  dervishes  ;  he  obtained 
wide  repute.  There  was  simply  needed  a  good 
opportunity— and  lo  !  the  Mahdi  had  come.  It 
was  in  May,  1881,  that  he  thus  proclaimed 
himself  as  from  God.  The  dervishes  gathered 
around  him  ;  he  soon  found  himself  at  the  head 
of  an  army  of  fifty  thousand  men.  Bands  of 
Egyptian  forces  were  sent  against  him.  The 
story  of  the  annihilation  of  Hicks  Pasha  and 
his  army  of  English  and  Egyptians,  about  ten 
thousand  men,  is  recent  history — "  not  a  man 


106  Islam  in  Africa 

left  to  carry  the  fatal  tidings  to  Khartoum." 
It  was  in  January,  1885,  that  the  Mahdi  capt- 
ured Khartoum.  General  Gordon  was  slain. 
The  victorious  leader  of  the  holy  war  died  of 
small-pox  soon  after ;  but  his  lieutenant,  the 
Khalifa,  succeeded  him.  The  English,  on  the 
eve  of  the  battle  of  August  3,  18S9,  demanded 
of  the  leader  surrender;  and  he  replied,  "I 
have  been  sent  to  conquer  the  world."  The 
fanaticism  and  ferocity  of  the  dervishes  were 
well  illustrated  on  that  field  of  battle,  although 
they  were  completely  routed.1  The  fury  of 
that  battle  was  but  a  little  breath  of  the  fiery 
zeal  of  these  later  African  imitators  of  the  early 
conquerors  of  Islam.  The  rule  and  fanaticism 
of  the  Mahdists  remained  irresistible  until  this 
very  year  (1898).  It  is  said  of  a  Moslem  soci- 
ety, called  Sid-es-Senoussi,2  that  its  Calif,  or 
"  Divine  Lieutenant,"  had  recently  under  him 
"  a  complete  hierarchy  of  subordinate  officers," 
with  a  probable  following  of  1,500,000  fierce 
fanatics,  governed  by  the  same  spirit,  and  com- 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of the  World,  iii.,  754. 

2  For  this  sect,  see  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  1.,  597, 
page  C,  article  by  Rev.  E.  Sell. 


Its  Political  Character         107 

mitted  to  the  same  end  as  the  Mahdists  of  the 
Soudan,  all  alike  aiming  at  a  "  speedy,  complete, 
and  universal  triumph  of  Islam." 1  A  later, 
probably  the  last,  chapter  of  this  Mahdist  hist- 
ory is  now  being  written,  in  the  conquest  of 
the  upper  Nile  province  by  the  English,  with  a 
fervour  of  zeal  and  fury  on  the  one  side,  and 
a  perfection  of  planning  on  the  other,  hardly 
rivalled  in  history. 

Yet  again  we  must  observe  that  through- 
out such  outbreak  of  apparently  religious  zeal 
it  is  hard  to  distinguish  between  what  is  purely 
for  the  advance  of  Mohammedanism  and  what 
is  principally  for  the  support  of  slavery.  Con- 
cerning the  attacks  by  these  very  Mahdists 
upon  Abyssinia,  from  1885  to  1890,  a  German 
missionary  expresses  his  fear  that  the  recent 
defeat  of  the  Abyssinian  army  by  Mohamme- 
dan Mahdists,  or  dervishes,  will  result  in  the 
"  early  addition  of  Christian  Abyssinia  to  the 
list  of  countries  desolated  by  the  African  slave- 
trade,  unless  such  a  result  is  speedily  averted 
by  the  proposed  conference  of  the  Powers."  a 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iii.,  757. 
9 /did.,  ii. ,  761. 


io8  Islam  in  Africa 

The  whole  story  of  the  Arab  outbreak  in  the 
Lake  Nyassa  region  has  as  its  basis  an  attempt 
to  preserve  the  slave-trade,  endangered  there 
by  the  presence  of  the  Europeans.  Through- 
out all  this  Mohammedan  warfare  in  Africa 
there  seem  to  be  differences  of  degree,  but  not 
of  kind.  It  is  all  selfishness — principally  the 
slave-trade  —  and  religious  enthusiasm  com- 
bined. In  the  Egyptian  Soudan  the  religious 
element  predominates.  In  Lake  Nyassa  the 
slave-trade  desire  is  conspicuous.  Throughout, 
the  proportions  vary,  but  the  elements  are  the 
same. 

In  general,  to  this  political  character  of  Mo- 
hammedanism in  Africa  is  largely  due  the 
surprising  fact  that  the  religion  itself  has  not 
been  absorbed  by  the  paganism  of  Central 
Africa.  The  phenomenon  is  not  to  be  explained 
simply  by  religious  zeal.  It  is  the  aggressive 
way  in  which  this  zeal  has  manifested  itself,  the 
combination  of  religion  with  self-interest,  and 
as  well  the  inspiration  of  some  element  of 
truth,  that  have  sent  the  followers  of  the  great 
prophet  conquering  and  to  conquer  throughout 
Central  Africa.     Under  this  Mohammedan  in- 


Its  Political  Character        109 

fluence,  whether  or  not  due  to  it,  there  has 
arisen  in  places  a  somewhat  developed  civilisa- 
tion. Large  cities,  some  public  order,  military 
power,  some  advance  in  general  condition — all 
this  is  true  of  the  Mohammedan  states  of  the 
Soudan.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  the 
indescribable  desolation  of  large  regions  im- 
mediately south  of  the  Mohammedan  kingdoms 
of  the  Soudan,  and  west  of  the  great  lakes — a 
desolation  so  terrible  that  the  heart  shrinks 
from  the  consideration  of  the  human  misery 
involved  and  the  blight  upon  African  humanity. 
It  may  be  that  Arab  influence  in  Central  Africa 
must  be  met,  as  Lieutenant  Wissman  has 
claimed,1  only  by  systematic  war  measures  on 
the  part  of  Europe  against  them.  Fight  fire 
with  fire.  The  political  and  military  ascendency 
of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa  must  be  de- 
stroyed, if  civilisation  is  to  conquer. 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  ii.,  293. 


6: 


v. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ITS   MORAL  AND   RELIGIOUS   CHARACTER 

IN  passing  judgment  upon  a  religion,  the  best 
criterion  is  the  effect  which  it  produces 
upon  the  actual  life,  both  in  the  general  morality 
which  it  accomplishes  and  in  the  inspiration 
from  the  unseen  which  it  brings.  V  Conduct  is 
three-fourths  of  life."  A  system  of  religion 
crystallises  itself  in  the  external  life  of  its 
votaries.  It  is  one  of  the  strange  and  essential 
features  of  Mohammedanism,  not  alone  in  Af- 
rica, but  throughout,  that  there  is  a  divorce 
between  ethics  and  religion. 

"  Islam  is  an  intensely  formal  and  ritual  system,  a 
religion  of  works,  not  affecting  the  heart  or  requir- 
ing transformation  of  life.  Fasting,  the  pilgrim- 
age to  Mecca,  praying  five  times  a  day,  testifying 
1  There  is  one  God,  and  Mohammed  is  His  pro- 
phet,' almsgivings,  ablutions,  genuflections,  cir- 
cumcision, and  repeating  the  one  hundred  names 
no 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    1 1 1 

of  God,  are  some  of  the  rites  and  acts  by  which  the 
believer  purchases  Paradise.  The  minutest  change 
of  posture  in  prayer,  the  displacement  of  a  single 
genuflection,  would  call  for  much  heavier  censure 
than  outward  profligacy  or  absolute  neglect."  ' 

Confining  our  attention  to  African  Moham- 
medanism, we  have  excellent  opportunity  in 
North  Africa  for  estimating  the  moral  character 
and  effects  of  the  religion  ;  for  in  this  region 
Mohammedanism  has  had  control  for  a  thou- 
sand years,  with  the  fullest  opportunity  for  de- 
velopment. Throughout  the  Soudan  and  into 
Equatorial  Africa,  also,  there  is  much  evidence 
as  to  the  moral  character  and  results  of  the 
religion,  though  of  later  origin. 

Incidentally  we  may  observe  that  under  Mo- 
hammedan control  the  population  of  North 
Africa  has  largely  decreased  during  the  mil- 
lennium now  closing.2  It  was  Slatin  Pasha's 
observation  in  Eastern  Soudan  that  "  at  least 
seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  of 
Eastern  Soudan  has  succumbed  to  war,  famine, 
and  disease,  while  of  the  remainder  the  ma- 

1  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problems,  H.  IT.  Tesup,  28,  29. 

2  Speech  of  Mr.  E.  H.  Glenney,  Report  of  Missionary  Con- 
ference, London,  188S,  i.,  29,  30. 


ii2  Islam  in  Africa 

jority  are  little  better  than  slaves."  '  Through- 
out his  journeys  in  the  desert,  Mr.  Richardson 
reports  evidences  on  every  hand  of  declining 
prosperity  and  decreasing  population.  History 
reveals  a  flourishing  civilisation  in  North  Africa, 
where  now  is,  largely,  the  abomination  of  deso- 
lation. But  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  in 
Algeria,  where  for  fifty  years  the  French  have 
had  rule,  "  the  population  is  increasing  pretty 
nearly  one  hundred  thousand  every  year."8 
From  many  considerations  the  inference  seems 
well  founded  that  Mohammedan  control  has 
been  so  characterised  by  injustice,  incapacity, 
moral  degradation,  and  neglect  of  the  proper 
functions  of  government  that  life  has  lan- 
guished ;  and  that,  largely,  this  is  chargeable  to 
Mohammedanism  as  a  religion.  Father  Ohr- 
walder  says  of  the  Soudan  that  Mahdism 
"  dragged  it  back  into  an  almost  indescribable 
condition  of  religious  and  moral  decadence."  3 
This  will  be  further,  and  we  think  clearly, 
evidenced  by  what  we  still  have  to  say. 

1  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  623. 

2  Speech  of  Mr.  E.  H.  Glenney,  Report  of  Missionary  Con- 
ference, London,  1888,  i.,  29,  30. 

3  Preface  to  "  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    113 

What  Dr.  Jesup  has  said  concerning  divorce 
between  morality  and  religion  as  essential  in 
Mohammedanism  in  general  is  proved  true  con- 
cerning Mohammedanism  in  Africa.  Mr.  Rich- 
ardson, from  personal  observation  in  the  desert 
tribes,  witnessed  that  "  the  sum  of  religion 
amongst  many  of  the  wild  tribes  is  the  formula 
of  Mohammed  being  the  prophet  of  God,  fasting, 
and  circumcision"1;  and  Slatin  Pasha's  summary 
of  Mahdism  is  even  simpler  :  "  The  repetition  of 
the  five  prayers,  and  the  reading  of  the  Kuran, 
on  which  no  commentaries  are  permitted  to  be 
made,  make  up  the  sum  total  of  religion,  inter- 
spersed now  and  then  with  the  reading  of  the 
Mahdi's  instructions  and  the  repetition,  twice 
a  day,  of  the  Rateb."  a  But  this  formal  profes- 
sion is  accompanied  by  moral  degradation,  in 
many  respects,  throughout  these  tribes.  Thus 
there  is  a  sad  lack  of  financial  integrity.  "All 
Tunisian  Arabs  are  robbers."  3  The  Pasha  of 
Tripoli    opposed    Mr.    Richardson's   proposed 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1S48,  i.,  149. 

2  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  548. 

3  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1848,  i.,  21. 


ii4  Islam  in  Africa 

journey  into  the  desert,  fearing  that  it  would 
interfere  with  his  system  of  extorting  money 
from  the  inhabitants  of  that  country.1  A  large 
proportion  of  government  taxes  and  assess- 
ments, throughout  this  whole  region,  "  gets 
into  the  pockets  of  the  officials."  a  The  "  Mar- 
about," Mohammedan  saint,  teacher,  and  writer 
of  the  village,  Mr.  Richardson's  camel-driver, 
was  "  dishonest  when  he  could  be  so  with 
safety."  3  Speaking  of  these  Marabouts,  and 
alluding  to  my  driver,  the  Sheik  said,  "  These 
fellows  pray  God  and  rob  man."  *  Slatin  Pasha 
gives  us  this  picture  of  Islam,  as  illustrated  by 
Mahdism : 

"  The  attempted  regeneration  of  the  faith  by  the 
Mahdi,  who  disregarded  the  former  religious  teach- 
ing and  customs,  has  resulted  in  a  deterioriation 
of  morals,  which,  even  at  the  best  of  times,  were 
very  lax  in  the  Sudan.  Partly  from  fear  of  the 
Khalifa,  and  partly  for  their  own  personal  interests 
and  advantage,  the  people  have  made  religion  a 
mere  profession  ;  and  this  has  now  become  their 
second  nature,  and  has  brought  with  it  a  condition 
of  immorality  which  is  almost  indescribable.  The 
majority  of  the  inhabitants,  unhappy  and  discon- 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1S48,  i.,  13.     *  Ibid.,  50.     *  Ibid.,  52.     *  Ibid.,  54. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    115 

tented  with  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  and  fearing 
that  their  personal  freedom  may  become  even  more 
restricted  than  it  is,  seem  to  have  determined  to 
enjoy  their  life  as  much  as  their  means  will  allow, 
and  to  lose  no  time  about  it.  As  there  is  practi- 
cally no  social  life  or  spiritual  intercourse,  they 
seem  to  have  resolved  to  make  up  for  this  want  by 
indulging  their  passion  for  women  to  an  abnormal 
extent."  ' 

Such  hints  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely. 
All  know  the  corruptibility  of  Mohammedan 
government  throughout.  The  piracy  of  the 
Barbary  States  in  the  early  part  of  our  present 
century  was  encouraged  by  the  Mohammedan 
government  as  a  means  of  supplying  the  public 
exchequer.2 

A  worse  development  is  to  be  found  in  the 
startling  hypocrisy  of  the  religious  leaders  of 
Mohammedanism,  not  simply  in  North  Africa 
but  apparently  wherever  on  the  continent  the 
religion  goes.  Mr.  Richardson,  early  in  his 
journey  into  the  desert,  was  ushered  into  the 
presence  of  the  Mohammedan  ruler  of  a  district 
— an  exemplar  for  that  region  of  Mohammed- 

1  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  560. 

2  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity ,    F.   F.   Ellinwood, 
D.D.,  201. 


n6  Islam  in  Africa 

anism  pure  and  undefiled.  He  said  privately 
to  the  Englishman  :  "  Now  these  people  you 
are  travelling  with  are  barbarians, — you  must 
humour  their  whims  and  respect  their  religion  ; 
if  they  were  not  now  present,  we  would  have 
a  bottle  of  wine  together."  1  Again,  at  the  in- 
teresting city  of  Ghat,  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
Mohammedan  desert,  the  prince  said,  "  Our 
Marabouts  [religious  leaders]  are  all  rogues."9 
What  can  be  more  startling  than  the  picture 
which  Slatin  Pasha  presents  of  the  hypocrisy  of 
the  Mahdi,  and  of  his  successor,  the  Khalifa? 

"  Openly,  he  showed  himself  a  most  strict  ob- 
server of  his  own  teachings ;  but,  within  their 
houses,  he,  his  Khalifas,  and  their  relatives  entered 
into  the  wildest  excesses,  drunkenness,  riotous  liv- 
ing, and  debauchery  of  every  sort,  and  they  satis- 
fied to  their  fullest  extent  the  vicious  passions 
which  are  so  prevalent  amongst  the  Sudanese.  .  .  . 
The  Khalifa,  if  his  health  permits  it,  attends  the 
five  daily  prayers  most  regularly  ;  and  yet,  at 
heart,  no  man  could  be  more  irreligious.  During 
all  the  years  in  which  I  have  been  in  the  closest 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richard- 
son, London,  1848,  i.,  43. 
*  Ibid.,  134. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    117 

communication  with  him,  I  have  never  once  seen 
or  heard  him  say  a  prayer  in  his  own  house."  ' 

Dr.  Schweinfurth  described  the  Mohammedan 
missionaries  whom  he  found  at  Khartoum  as 
"  polluted  with  every  abominable  vice  which 
the  imagination  of  man  can  conceive."  2  Bishop 
Crowther,  the  venerable  negro  ecclesiastic  of 
the  Niger  region,  declares  that  "  the  real  voca- 
tion of  the  quiet  apostles  of  the  Koran  is  that 
of  fetish  peddlers  "  ;  and  this  testimony  is  con- 
firmed by  the  explorer  Lander.3  These  latter 
statements  may  not  prove  hypocrisy,  necessar- 
ily, but  they  clearly  indicate  the  low  degree  of 
moral  elevation  belonging  to  the  Mohammedan 
missionaries  throughout  Central  Africa.  And 
the  Arabs,  who  are  emphatically  the  represent- 
atives and  agents  of  that  religion,  unblushingly 
substitute  selfishness  for  self-sacrifice,  and  slave- 
hunting  for  devotion. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  specify  untruthful- 
ness as  one  of  the  moral  characteristics  of  Mo- 

1  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  375,  547. 
'2  Quoted   in    Oriental  Religions   and   Christianity,    F.    F. 
Ellinwood,  D.D.,  211. 
3  Ibid.,  211. 


u8  Islam  in  Africa 

hammedanism  throughout.  This  vice  is  a 
prevalent  one  throughout  the  East,  and  among 
non-Mohammedan  peoples ;  but  the  fact  that 
Mohammedanism  has  not  corrected  it,  and  does 
not  in  general  produce  truthfulness,  is  an  indic- 
ation of  the  character  of  the  religion.  "  Are 
you  so  foolish,  Yakob,  as  to  believe  everything 
a  Mohammedan  tells  you  ?  "  was  the  question 
which  they  asked  Mr.  Richardson  in  the 
desert.1 

Hints  of  something  like  order,  morality,  and 
self-control  are  found  here  and  there.  "  There 
is  no  crime  worth  naming  in  the  oases." a 
"  Ghat  is  a  country  of  peace."  3  "  The  Touariks 
never  steal." 4  One  of  the  characteristic  feat- 
ures of  Mohammedanism  is  the  self-control  de- 
manded through  the  feast  of  Ramadan.  This 
fast  for  thirty  days  is  said  to  be  conscien- 
tiously observed  by  all  the  faithful — even  in 
Africa ;  involving  abstinence  from  food  and 
drink  throughout  the  daytime. 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richard- 
son, London,  1848,  i.,  427. 
''Ibid.,  ii.,  36. 

3  Ibid. ,  74. 

4  Ibid.,  149. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    119 

"  If  there  were  a  railway  from  West  Africa  to 
the  Red  Sea  and  you  wished  to  avail  yourself  of  it 
in  a  journey  to  Egypt  during  the  fast  month,  (you 
might  perhaps  accomplish  the  journey  in  seven 
days,)  you  would  during  those  seven  days  pass 
through  a  route  where  you  would  find  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  good  health  observing  the 
fast.  On  the  entire  route,  four  thousand  miles, 
you  would  notice  that  the  fires  were  out  in  the  day- 
time. No  other  part  of  the  globe  presents  such  a 
sight — sixty  million  people  fasting  at  the  same 
time."  l 

This  statement  by  Dr.  Blyden  seems  to 
us  somewhat  exaggerated.  Investigation  will 
make  it  evident  that  it  would  be  an  exceed- 
ingly difficult  task  so  to  plan  a  railroad  in 
Central  Africa  that  it  shall  lead  through  four 
thousand  miles  of  a  Mohammedanism  so  strict 
as  here  specified.  But  there  is  sufficient  truth 
in  the  assertion  to  indicate  a  degree  of  moral 
restraint,  beneficial  or  otherwise,  as  exerted  by 
the  religion  and  characterising  it. 

In  general  it  must  be  said  that  throughout 
Mohammedan  North  Africa  "the  most  terrible 
unrighteousness,  the  grossest  degradation,  cou- 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  vii.,  412. 


120  Islam  in  Africa 

pled  with  the  vilest  immorality"  exist.1  The 
reference  is  to  the  Mohammedan  states  north 
of  the  desert.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  testi- 
mony 2  of  one  who  lived  eighteen  years  in 
Morocco — "  one  of  the  most  intensely  Moham- 
medan countries  in  the  world."  He  says, 
"  There  does  not  exist  a  more  degraded  and 
corrupt  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  It 
is  hard,  or  impossible,  to  find  an  eulogist  of  the 
moral  condition  created  by  Mohammedan  con- 
trol in  North  Africa  through  the  last  one 
thousand  years. 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  fact  that 
throughout  the  desert,  largely  by  force  of  cir- 
cumstances, a  better  moral  condition  prevails. 
It  is  not  Mohammedanism  that  has  produced 
this  superiority,  but  human  isolation  and  need. 
The  stern  life  of  the  desert  necessitates  some 
confidence  and  faithfulness  man  with  man  ;  and 
it  gives  chance  for  all  possible  inspiration  from 
what  of  the  great  common  stock  of  truth  is 
presented  in  Mohammedanism.     But  it  is  not 

1  Speech  of  Mr.  E.  H.  Glenney,  Report  of  Missionary  Con- 
ference, London,  1888,  i.,  29. 

2  New  York  Tribune,  April  7,  1893. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    121 

Islam  as  a  system  that  is  to  be  credited  with 
this  moral  betterment.  The  desert  has  always 
been  man's  walking  ground  with  God. 

Passing  now  to  Mohammedan  civilisation 
south  of  the  desert,  we  have  Mr.  Stanley's  test- 
imony concerning  the  general  condition  of 
affairs  in  the  Egyptian  Soudan.  In  the  revul- 
sion following  the  complete  overthrow  of  Gen- 
eral Gordon's  control,  there  was  an  awful  lapse ; 
"  Venality,  oppression,  and  demoralisation  re- 
placed justice  and  equity  and  righteousness." 
But  this  was  largely  a  return  to  the  old 
order  that  had  become  established  under  Mo- 
hammedan dominancy.  In  Kordofan,  a  Mo- 
hammedan state  in  Eastern  Soudan,  "  the 
moral  character  of  the  people  is  about  as  bad 
as  it  can  well  be."  '  In  Darfur,  lying  immedi- 
ately east  of  Kordofan,  the  morals  of  the  people 
are  very  lax.3  Throughout  that  part  of  West- 
ern Soudan  of  which  Bishop  Crowther  had 
knowledge  there  is,  as  he  testifies,3  "  full  licence 
of  all    sinful  enjoyments."     The   awful   licen- 

1  Uganda  and  the  Egyptian    Soudan,  Messrs.  Wilson  and 
Felkin,  ii.,  310. 
8  Ibid.,  ii.,  276. 
3  Life  of  Samuel  Crowther,  103. 


122  Islam  in  Africa 

tiousness  of  Mahdism  in  the  Eastern  Soudan 
is  written  on  almost  every  page  of  Slatin 
Pasha's  wonderful  tale,  Fire  and  Sword  in  the 
Sudan.  The  testimony  is  well-nigh,  or  quite, 
unanimous,  that  the  moral  character  of  Moham- 
medanism throughout  the  Soudan,  as  through- 
out North  Africa,  perhaps  excepting  the  desert, 
is  unspeakably  bad.  The  attempts  to  compare 
it,  favourably,  with  some  bad  features  of  Euro- 
pean and  American  civilisation,  do  not  parry 
the  charge — for  the  evil  excrescences  of  the 
latter  are  not  to  be  compared  with  the  essential 
character  of  the  former. 

As  the  matter  upon  which  we  are  now  dwell- 
ing is  all-important  for  a  correct  understanding 
of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa,  it  is  necessary 
to  specify  two  or  three  points  that  have  been 
thus  far  only  suggested  in  general :  intemper- 
ance, sensuality  in  the  strict  use  of  that  term, 
and  slavery.  These  three  classes  of  evil  indic- 
ate clearly  the  moral  status  of  Islam  in  Africa. 

Dr.  Blyden  claims  that  "  throughout  Central 
Africa  there  has  been  established  a  vast  '  Total 
Abstinence  Society.'"1     He  asserts  that  such 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  ATegro  Race,  201. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    123 

is  the  influence  of  this  society,  that  "  where 
there  are  Moslem  inhabitants,  even  in  pagan 
towns,  it  is  a  very  rare  thing  to  see  a  per- 
son intoxicated."  But  Mr.  Richardson,  even 
throughout  the  desert  regions  of  enforced 
abstinence  and  self-control,  testifies  concerning 
the  Moslems  that  "  many  of  them  do  not  fail 
to  intoxicate  themselves  with  everything  .  .  . 
which  comes  in  their  way." '  As  to  the  de- 
moralisation of  the  natives  by  rum,  many  non- 
Moslem  tribes  "were  not  more  given  to  the  use 
of  intoxicating  liquors  than  were  the  Moslems 
about  Musardu  and  even  among  those  like  the 
Kabyles  of  North  Africa."  2  In  Tunis  "  alcohol 
is  the  chief  foe  of  the  missionary's  work." 
"  Mohammedan  insobriety  is  notorious."  Hear 
the  confession  of  the  Sheik  Hassan.  3 

"  Once,  travelling  with  Gordon,"  he  remarked, 
"  I  fell  ill,  and  Gordon  came  to  see  me  in  my  tent. 
In  the  course  of  our  conversation  I  told  him  that  I 
was  addicted  to  alcoholic  drinks,  and  that  I  put 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richard- 
son, London,  1848,  i.,  315. 

2  Dr.  Gracey  in  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i., 
382. 

3  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Fasha,  35. 


124  Islam  in  Africa 

down  my  present  indisposition  to  being  obliged  to 
do  without  them  for  the  last  few  days.  This  was 
really  my  indirect  way  of  asking  Gordon  to  give 
me  something  ;  but  I  was  mightily  disappointed, 
and,  instead,  received  a  very  severe  rebuke.  '  You, 
a  Moslem,'  said  he, 'and  forbidden  by  your  re- 
ligion to  drink  wines  and  spirits  !  I  am  indeed  sur- 
prised. You  should  give  up  this  habit  altogether  ; 
everyone  should  follow  the  precepts  of  his  religion.' 
I  replied,  '  Having  been  accustomed  to  them  all 
my  life,  if  I  now  gave  them  up  my  health  must 
suffer  ;  but  I  will  try  and  be  more  moderate  in 
future.'  " 

Further,  we  have  the  somewhat  significant  fact 
that  Turkey,  the  banner-bearer  of  Islam,  voted 
at  the  Berlin  Conference  for  free  rum  in  the 
Congo  Free  State.1  We  cannot  avoid  the  con- 
clusion that  Dr.  Blyden  romances  somewhat 
concerning  his  great  total  abstinence  society  of 
Central  Africa.  Mohammedanism,  asserting 
temperance  if  not  total  abstinence,  fails  to  en- 
force its  command  in  Africa — as,  we  are  told, 
elsewhere.  The  Arabs  themselves  are  the  chief 
importers  of  intoxicating  spirits  into  Africa.2 
In  attempting  to  illustrate  the  moral  character 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  iv.,  27. 

2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  gg. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    125 

of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa  by  reference  to 
sensuality,  we  approach  a  matter  upon  which  it 
is  unpleasant  to  write.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  Mohammedanism  in  its  very  con- 
stitution makes  a  distinct  appeal  to  the  ruling 
passion  of  human  nature.  It  allows,  to  the 
faithful,  four  wives  and  limitless  concubinage. 
Mohammed,  by  special  dispensation,  granted 
unto  himself  fifteen  or  more  wives— and  pro- 
claimed a  message  from  heaven  rebuking  him- 
self for  undue  continence.  The  marvellous 
growth  of  Mohammedanism  throughout  the 
world  has  been  ascribed  by  some  to  the  sensual 
indulgence  which  this  religion  authorises.  But 
that  cannot  wholly  account  for  such  a  majestic 
triumph  over  mankind  ;  "  It  is  a  calumny  on 
men  to  say  that  they  are  aroused  to  heroic 
action  by  sugar-plums  in  this  world  or  the  next. 
In  the  meanest  mortal  there  lies  something 
nobler."  !  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  while 
the  religion  of  Mohammed  allows  licence  in 
certain  respects,  it  teaches  such  restrictions  in 
other  respects  that  licence  is  to  some  degree 
counterbalanced  by  restraint.    But  the  restraint 

1  Heroes,  Thomas  Carlyle,  64. 


126  Islam  in  Africa 

is  on  matters  comparatively  unimportant  ;  and 
the  licence  is  in  certain  lines  along  which  evil 
nature  runs  almost  irresistibly.  Because  the 
fast  of  Ramadan  is  insisted  upon  for  thirty 
days  a  year  Mohammedanism  is  not  to  be 
excused  in  the  practically  unlimited  sensual- 
ity which  it  allows.  Islam  is  essentially  sensual. 
Concerning  the  Moors  of  the  towns  of  North 
Africa  it  has  been  said,  "  No  people  are  more 
sensual  and  impure."  1  And  Mr.  Glenney  in  his 
address  at  a  conference  said  2:  "  I  dare  not  in  a 
company  like  this  tell  you  of  the  condition  of 
these  countries,  morally — or  rather  immorally. 
I  could  not  tell  you  of  the  vile  practices  that  are 
done  in  these  lands."  Slatin  Pasha  in  investi- 
gating the  country  between  the  Blue  and  White 
Niles,  found  a  trade-centre  in  which  was  "  an 
immense  collection  of  young  women,  the  pro- 
perty of  the  wealthiest  and  most  respected 
merchants,  who  had  procured  them  and  sold 
them  for  immoral  purposes,  at  high  prices. 
This   was  evidently  a  most  lucrative  trade."  9 

1  Travels  i?i  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James   Richard- 
son, London,  1S4S,  i.,  174. 

2  Report  of Missionary  Conference,  London,  1888,  i.,  29. 

3  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  5. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    127 

Perhaps  no  more  significant  hint  could  be  given 
than  that  presented  by  Mr.  Richardson  '  when 
he  said,  "  The  Mohammedans  claim  that  a  saint 
or  Marabout  cannot  have  too  many  women  or 
wives,  which  they  say  assist  their  devotion — a 
sentiment  which  they  pretend  to  have  received 
from  Mohammed  himself  by  tradition."  Ap- 
parently this  utter  lack  of  sensual  control  charac- 
terises the  whole  of  Mohammedan  civilisation 
in  Africa.  We  find  the  rotten  fruitage  of  a 
religious  system  that  contrives,  essentially,  the 
destruction  of  the  family  relation  throughout, 
and  the  consequent  degradation  of  women.2 

The  third  feature  of  the  moral  character  of 
Mohammedanism  in  Africa  upon  which  we 
would  dwell  is  seen  in  connection  with  the 
slave-trade.  There  is  opened  before  us  the 
whole  question  as  to  the  connection  of  Mo- 
hammedanism with  slavery.  A  dark  story, 
absolutely  unwritable  and  incredible  to  West- 
ern civilisation,  presents  itself  to  us.  We 
cannot  enter  upon  it  at  length.     It  lies  in  direct 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richard- 
son, London,  1848,  i.,  57. 

2  The  Mohammedan   Missionary  Trod/em,   H.    H.    Jesup, 
34-37- 


128  Islam  in  Africa 

connection  with  what  has  just  been  said  con- 
cerning Mohommedan  sensuality.  "  One  of 
the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  suppression  of 
the  slave-trade  was  the  facility  which  it  afforded 
Moorish  and  Arab  merchants  to  indulge  in 
sensual  amours.1  Sir  William  Muir  attributes 
to  this  the  persistence  of  the  Mohammedans  in 
the  slave-trade.  He  claims  that,3  "so  long 
as  a  free  sanction  to  this  great  evil  stands 
recorded  on  the  pages  of  the  Koran,  Moham- 
medans will  never  of  their  own  accord  cease  to 
prosecute  the  slave  trade." 

In  the  African  slave-trade  we  have  what 
Livingstone  called  "  the  open  sore  of  the 
world."  Not  only  is  Mohammedanism  the 
religion  of  the  slave-driver  ;  Mohammedanism 
sanctions  the  slave-trade,  and  is  responsible,  in 
the  last  analysis,  for  the  wide-spread  demand 
that  has  prolonged  the  export  slave-trade  of 
late.  We  recognise  the  fact  that  Mohammed- 
anism restricts  the  slave-trade  somewhat — 
so  far  as  Mohammedans  are  concerned.     While 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1848,  ii.,  348. 

2  Oriental  Religions  and   Christianity,    F.    F.    Ellinvvood, 
D.D.,  192. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    129 

there  are  Mohammedans  that  are  slaves,  and 
while  the  common  assertion  that  Mohammedans 
are  exempted  from  slavery  is  an  error,1  it  is 
certainly  true  that  throughout  Africa  the  Mo- 
hammedan slave-traders  make  their  raids  rather 
upon  tribes  that  are  not  Mohammedans.  But 
"  to  attack  slavery  in  Mohammedan  countries 
is  to  interfere  with  institutions  to  which  Islam 
gives  a  religious  sanction."  2 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  enter  into  a  de- 
scription of  the  awful  inhumanity  and  evil  of 
the  Mohammedan  slave  -  trade.  A  shaded 
map3  indicates  that  the  region  of  slave-hunt- 
ing extends  from  about  five  degrees  north  of 
the  equator  to  twenty-five  degrees  south  of 
it  ;  indeed,  almost  throughout  the  contin- 
ent, excepting  a  narrow  district  along  both 
eastern  and  western  coasts.  Also,  that  "  slave 
caravans  have  been  embarked  as  late  as  1889" 
along  both  eastern  and  western  coasts  of  this 
whole  stretch,  throughout  the  districts  that  are 
supposed  to  be  under  the  control  of  the  great 

1  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  210. 

2  The  Church  Missionary  Atlas,  i.,  33. 

3  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  226. 


130  Islam  in  Africa 

Powers  of  Europe.  A  slight  apology,  or  at 
least  an  attempt  at  fair  statement,  is  made  by 
a  missionary,  Dr.  Pruen  ' ;  he  says  that  most  of 
the  slaves  are  purchased  by  the  Arabs  from  the 
native  chiefs  of  the  interior,  and  that  "  these 
slaves  are  stated  to  be  either  the  scum  of  the 
native  villages  of  whom  the  chiefs  are  glad  to 
be  rid,  or  else  the  prisoners  taken  by  the  up- 
country  chiefs  in  their  frequent  fights."     Also, 

"  a  smaller  trade  is  done  by  fraud.  Small  parties 
of  natives  or  single  individuals  are  enticed  into  a 
caravan  to  sell  food,  and  are  then  seized  ;  or  else 
in  time  of  scarcity  the  people  of  a  half-starved 
village  are  encouraged  to  join  themselves  to  a 
caravan  on  the  assurance  that  there  is  plenty  of 
food  a  few  miles  ahead.  But  after  the  few  miles' 
march  the  plenty  does  not  make  its  appearance, 
and  the  unfortunate  people  sadly  recognise  the 
fact  that  they  have  said  farewell  to  their  freedom." 

Also,  parents  sell  their  children  for  food  to 
passing  caravans.  Dr.  Pruen  evidently  makes 
the  most  favourable  statement  possible — out 
of  a  spirit  of  fairness.     He  asserts  that 

"  the  Arab  does  not  as  a  rule  ill-treat  his  slaves. 
When  an  unfortunate  slave  is  seized  with  illness, 

1  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  212,  250. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    131 

and  unable  to  continue  the  journey,  he  is,  as  a 
rule,  if  the  caravan  is  near  the  hunting  ground, 
killed  by  the  Arab  in  charge.  If  this  custom  were 
not  the  rule,  the  whole  caravan  would  get  ill  at 
the  next  station.  If  it  is  necessary  to  transfer  the 
body  of  slaves  from  the  interior  to  the  coast,  then 
the  only  way  is  to  kill  those  too  ill  to  travel." 

But  these  statements  give  faint  idea  of  the 
shocking  barbarities  that  are  really  committed, 
and  of  the  cataclysmic  desolation  that  is 
wrought  by  the  slavers.  Surrounding  a  village, 
the  Arabs  set  fire  to  the  huts  ;  as  the  fright- 
ened people  emerge,  the  men  are  killed  and 
the  women  and  children  are  seized.  The  inde- 
scribable savagery  at  the  moment  of  the  attack 
is  but  a  hint  of  the  long-drawn  horrors  of  the 
march.  All  possible  devilishness  in  human  na- 
ture is  exhibited  throughout.  A  practical  ex- 
termination of  tribal  life,  at  least  a  destruction 
of  the  prosperity  and  primitive  civilisation  of 
vast  and   populous   regions,   is   accomplished. 

"  The  Arab  wreaks  a  ruin  even  greater  than  the 
annihilation  of  tribes  outright ;  he  keeps  the  region 
in  a  perpetual  ferment,  sets  chief  against  chief  to 
prevent  combination,  and  either  makes  tools  of 
the  tribes  likely  to  become  dominant,  or  shatters 


132  Islam  in  Africa 

them  by  instigating  rebellion  among  their  de- 
pendents." ' 

Dr.  Livingstone  bore  witness  to  the  vast  de- 
solation accomplished  in  a  short  time  in  the 
regions  through  which  he  travelled.2  So  also 
does  Mr.  Stanley  ;  and  so  do  all  the  later  trav- 
ellers throughout  Equatorial  Africa.  Cardinal 
Lavigerie  estimated  that  two  million  lives  are 
massacred  in  obtaining  the  four  hundred  thou- 
sand slaves  annually  brought  to  the  coast9; 
but  this  statement  seems  to  be  considerably 
within  actual  facts.4  The  social  disturbance 
throughout  the  vast  continent,  arising  from 
these  slave-raids,  can  readily  be  imagined. 
"  Whenever  Livingstone  crossed  the  slave-path 
he  found  the  natives  suspicious  and  inclined  to 
be  unfriendly." 5  "  Until  the  advent  of  the 
slave-dealer,  the  native  tribes  lived  generally 
at  peace  among  themselves,  but  since  then  a 
great  change  has  taken  place."  6 

Slavery  is  an  indigenous  institution  in  Africa, 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iv.,  428. 

2  Life  of  Livingstone,  Montefiore,  101,  116,  153-156. 
*Itid.)  155. 

4  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iv.,  428. 

6  Life  of  Livingstone ,  Montefiore,  51. 

6  Uganda  and  the  Egyptian  Soudan,  Wilson  and  Felkin,  209. 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    133 

The  Arabs  did  not  introduce  it  ;  but  it  is  they 
who  have  made  the  export  trade  in  slaves 
from  Central  Africa,  and  who  have  developed 
the  unutterable  horrors  of  the  business.  Be- 
cause Islam  expressly  sanctions  slavery  and  does 
not  operate  to  check  its  abominations,  though 
Mohammedans  have  power  to  do  so,  the  religion 
of  Mohammed  must  be  held  largely  responsible 
for  what  has  been  here  merely  suggested.  The 
moral  character  of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa, 
the  inevitable  result  of  that  religious  system 
which  some  have  attempted  to  extol,  is  written 
in  letters  of  blood  and  fire  in  the  history  of  the 
African  slave-trade  throughout  the  last  fifty 
years  of  this  century.  The  question  concerning 
the  forced  stoppage  of  this  horrible  traffic  is 
indeed  a  difficult  one.  England  has  entered 
heartily  into  the  work,  as  also  have  some  other 
European  nations.  But  the  lust  and  greed  of 
the  traders,  the  difficulty  of  access  into  the  slave- 
raided  regions,  the  power  of  the  Turkish  Pashas 
and  army  and  wealthy  classes,1  the  ready  market 
for  slaves  throughout  the  Mohammedan  lands 

1  Uganda  and  the  Egyptian  Soudan,  Wilson  and  Felkin,  ii., 
217. 


134  Islam  in  Africa 

of  North  Africa  and  Asia,  above  all  the  sanc- 
tion of  Islam,  make  success  most  difficult.  The 
shrewdness  of  the  Arab  traders  in  avoiding  ob- 
stacles is  almost  phenomenal.  And  the  ques- 
tion is  further  complicated  by  the  assertion 
that  with  increasing  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
selling  prisoners  of  war  as  slaves  to  the  Arab 
traders,  intertribal  warfare  in  Central  Africa 
becomes  more  fatal  if  not  more  cruel.  All  at- 
tempts thus  far  to  abolish  the  trade  have  been 
but  feebly  effective.  The  true  solution  lies  in 
easy  access  for  foreign  influence  by  railway,  or 
at  least  by  good  roadway,  from  north  to  south 
and  from  east  to  west  throughout  the  continent, 
and  in  the  development  of  a  legitimate  com- 
merce among  the  natives.  But  the  power  of 
the  Mohammedan  Arab  in  Central  Africa  must 
first  and  completely  be  broken.  The  introduc- 
tion of  foreign  influence  throughout  the  Dark 
Continent  will  gradually  accomplish  this. 

But  little  is  to  be  said  concerning  the  higher 
characteristics  of  Mohammedanism  as  a  religion. 
Islam  in  Africa  is  of  the  earth,  earthy.  In 
passing  from  the  realm  of  mere  morality  into 
that  of  higher  religious  conception,  we  make  a 


Moral  and  Religious  Character    135 

transition  that  is  not  at  all  a  familiar  one  to  the 
African  Mohammedan.  He  makes  but  little  of 
what  thought  of  God  and  of  the  future  life  and 
of  final  accountability  his  religion  brings  to  him. 
Doubtless,  to  the  Mohammedan  of  the  seventh 
century  higher  truths  were  real  and  vivid  ; 
but  his  successors  of  the  nineteenth  century 
in  Africa  are  degenerate.  It  is  indeed  sad 
to  see  the  utter  lack  of  spiritual  elevation 
throughout  the  sixty  millions,  more  or  less,  of 
Mohammedans  in  Africa.  Here  and  there  is 
observable  an  outburst  of  the  old  enthusiasm, 
in  which  the  thought  of  God  and  the  outlook 
into  the  spirit  life  are  real  and  dynamic.  In  a 
vague  way,  even  now,  the  essential  doctrines  of 
Mohammedanism,  the  person  of  God,  Divine 
providence,  the  anticipation  of  Paradise,  are 
supposed  to  be  held  in  mind.  The  very  exist- 
ence of  the  mosque,  supposed  to  be  zealously 
established  wherever  Mohammedanism  goes, 
even  if  only  an  ordinary  bamboo  and  thatched 
hut  dignified  by  that  exalted  name,  serves  to 
prevent  the  native  from  forgetting  entirely  that 
there  is  one  God,  and  that  his  communication 
with  that  God  in  prayer  is  not  only  a  possibility 


6  Islam  in  Africa 


but  a  duty.  It  is  probable  that  there  are  places 
in  Central  Africa  where  Islam  as  a  religion, 
dealing  with  things  beyond  this  life,  is  still  a 
reality.1  Such  revivals  as  that  of  the  Wahah- 
bees  and  of  the  Mahdists  serve  to  show  that 
Mohammedanism  at  times  and  in  places  can 
make  real  the  unseen.  But,  in  general,  these 
higher  thoughts  and  this  inspiration  from  above 
have  but  little  part  in  an  African  Moham- 
medan's life.  Dr.  Pruen  quotes  Palgrave  as  ac- 
curate in  his  characterisation  of  the  Arab  as 
evincing  a  settled  resolution  to  prefer  the  cer- 
tain to  the  uncertain,  the  present  to  the  future. 
If  true  of  the  Arab,  far  more  of  the  Moham- 
medanised  pagan. 

"  Shall  I  abandon  the  pleasures  of  the  pure  wine- 
goblet 
For  all  they  tell  me  about  milk  and  honey  here- 
after ? 
Life,  and  death,  and  resurrection  to  follow, 
Stuff  and  nonsense,  my  dear  Madam."  2 

Such  are  the  lines  of  a  popular  Arab  poet — 
and  they  indicate  sadly  the  utter  earthliness, 
even  sensuality,  of  Islam  as  a  religion  in  Africa. 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  378. 

2  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Pruen,  259. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   CHANGE   FROM   PAGANISM 

WE  have  already  seen  that  Mohammed- 
anism has  obtained  complete  control 
in  Africa  throughout  the  north  and  the  desert ; 
is  practically  supreme  throughout  the  line  of 
kingdoms  immediately  south  of  the  desert  ; 
is  predominant  throughout  the  Soudan.  Also, 
that  there  are  many  Mohammedan  settle- 
ments throughout  Equatorial  Africa,  small 
and  sparse ;  and  that  Arab  traders  reach  far 
south,  even  to  the  line  of  Mozambique.  There 
are  said  to  be  about  sixty  millions  of  Moham- 
medans now  in  Africa.1  What  change  has  been 
effected  by  the  conquering  religion  ? 

The  early  overthrow  of  Christianity  in  the 
north  of   Africa  was  complete,  so  far  as   the 


1  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  ii. 
137 


[21. 


i38  Islam  in  Africa 

destruction  of  Christian  institutions  is  con- 
cerned. By  division,  sectarian  strife,  bitterness 
of  so-called  Christian  spirit,  neglect  of  true 
spirituality,  the  Church  of  Christ  in  those  re- 
gions had  left  its  first  love.  The  warning  had 
been  unheeded :  "  Remember  therefore  from 
whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the 
first  works ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee 
quickly,  and  will  remove  thy  candlestick  out  of 
his  place,  except  thou  repent."  '  Mohammed- 
anism, fleet  as  an  Arab  steed,  keen  and  cruel 
as  a  scimitar's  edge,  overwhelmed  an  unworthy 
and  unspiritual  Christianity — and  so  completely 
that  absolutely  nothing  was  left.  The  change 
at  that  time  in  that  region  was  complete  as 
possible ;  and  it  may  have  been,  for  a  while  at 
least,  improvement.  We  are  not  prepared  to  say 
that  the  enthusiasm  of  the  early  Mohammedan 
conquerors  was  not  higher  and  better  than  the 
corrupt  Christianity  which  they  overcame.  But 
in  its  far-reaching  results,  through  the  ten  cent- 
uries that  have  intervened,  the  inherent  evil 
of  Mohammedanism  has  manifested  itself  in 
that  region.     No  possible  corruption  of  Christ- 

1  Rev.  ii.,  5. 


The  Change  from  Paganism     139 

ianity  could  have  brought  such  a  blight  upon 
a  fair  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  as  Islam  has 
accomplished  in  North  Africa. 

There  are  many  evidences  that  Mohammed- 
anism did  not  so  completely  penetrate  the  desert 
tribes  of  Africa  as  in  Arabia  and  the  surround- 
ing Mohammedan  regions.  At  the  time  of 
the  first  conquest  of  the  desert  it  may  be  that 
Mohammedanism  was  somewhat  modified  by 
the  paganism  which  it  supplanted  ;  but  practic- 
ally this  religion  has  so  developed  itself  under 
desert  influences  that  we  have  now  in  the  Sa- 
hara, perhaps,  the  purest  and  most  typical 
Mohammedanism.  Down  to  the  Soudan  Islam 
has  had  free  course — though  hardly  to  its 
glorification.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
paganism  of  that  region,  a  complete  change 
was  wrought  long  ago. 

But  the  question  as  to  the  change  from 
paganism  becomes  more  interesting,  and  more 
difficult,  as  we  approach  the  races  south  of  the 
desert — the  more  recent  conquests  of  Islam  in 
Africa.  Much  has  been  claimed  that  proves  on 
investigation  to  be  startling  exaggeration. 

The  Mohammedan  states  of  Northern  Sou- 


Ho  Islam  in  Africa 

dan  doubtless  contrast  favourably  in  their 
civilisation  with  the  savagery  of  some  Central- 
African  tribes.  But  the  question  arises  as  to 
whether  this  is  real  change  from  paganism,  due 
to  Mohammedan  influence?  or  is  it  due  to  a 
natural  superiority  in  the  natives  involved  ?  The 
Hausas,  the  Fulahs,  the  Mandingoes,  are  splen- 
did races  of  men  ;  their  native  civilisation  would 
be  far  higher  than  that  of  many  African  tribes. 
It  may  be  that  to  some  extent  credit  is  due  to 
Islam  for  abolishing  "  cannibalism,  human  sacri- 
fices, the  burying  of  living  infants,  the  horrors 
of  fetishism,  belief  in  witchcraft,  intemperance," 
— as  Mr.  Bosworth  Smith  claims  ' ;  though,  so 
far  as  our  present  investigation  has  been  able  to 
reach,  this  is  largely  unsubstantiated  assertion 
by  Mr.  Smith.  It  may  possibly  be  provable 
to  some  extent  concerning  the  narrow  line  of 
Mohammedan  states  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  an  overwhelming 
mass  of  testimony  to  the  effect  that  in  general 
the  change  from  paganism  effected  by  Moham- 
medanism is  so  small  as  to  be  practically  no- 
thing.     Even   in  the  hotbed  of  Mahdism  the 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  iii.,  595. 


The  Change  from  Paganism     H1 

Bedeyat  are  merely  nominal  Moslems.  "  If 
their  chiefs  are  asked  by  Mohammedans  to  re- 
peat the  creed,  they  can  say,  '  There  is  no  God 
but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  His  prophet.'  But 
beyond  this  they  know  nothing ;  they  are  ut- 
terly ignorant  of  the  precepts  of  the  Kuran, 
and  never  pray  as  Moslems."  !  "  The  negro 
tribes  that  have  been  won  to  allegiance  by  the 
prophet  of  Mecca  are  Moslem  in  little  more 
than  name."  a  "  The  Bournous,  Fulahs,  Man- 
dingoes,  and  Jaloofs,  who  profess  Islam,  have 
done  little  more  than  abandon  some  of  the 
rites  of  paganism."  3  We  have  the  authority 
of  Bishop  Crowther,  whose  testimony  our  con- 
tinued study  into  these  matters  inclines  us  to 
take  without  question,  to  the  effect  that  "  even 
in  those  districts  where  Mohammedanism  has 
got  the  firmest  hold,  it  has  not  superseded  but 
rather  grafted  itself  upon  the  superstitious 
demon-worship  of  the  natives  everywhere."4 
The  explorer  Lander  asserts,  "  Those  who 
profess  Mohammedan  faith  among  the  negroes 

1  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  114. 
^Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  i.,  9. 

3  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  382. 

4  Life  of  Samuel  Crowther.     Preface,  ix. 


142  Islam  in  Africa 

are  as  ignorant  and  superstitious  as  their  idola- 
trous brethren  ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  their 
having  adopted  a  new  creed  has  either  improved 
their  manners  or  bettered  their  condition  in 
life."  ' 

Take  for  illustration  the  kingdom  of  Uganda 
under  Mtesa,  and  the  conversion  of  king  and 
kingdom  to  Mohammedanism.  Uganda  "  is  by 
far  the  most  powerfully  organised  and  (in  its 
way)  civilised  state  which  has  been  found  in 
Central  Africa."2  King  Mtesa  was  a  young 
man  in  1861.  A  little  later  he  came  under  the 
influence  of  Arab  traders,  and  became  by  pro- 
fession a  Mohammedan  ;  but  apparently  his 
conversion  consisted  largely  in  a  change  of 
costume — simply  putting  on  Arab  clothing. 
Mohammedanism  took  but  little  hold  on  the 
mass  of  his  people  ;  though  the  course  of  King 
Mtesa  was  followed  in  a  nominal  way  by  his 
chiefs.8  Later,  Christian  missionaries  were  re- 
ceived into  his  court ;  Mtesa  himself  now  be- 
came  an    accepter   of  Christianity,  about    the 

1  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity,  F.  F.  Ellinwood, 
D.D.,  211. 

2  Church  Missionary  Atlas,  5S. 

3  The  Story  of  Uganda,  S.  G.  Stock,  34. 


The  Change  from  Paganism      143 

year  1877.  But  in  1879  Mtesa  and  his  chiefs 
publicly  prohibited  both  Christianity  and  Mo- 
hammedanism, and  returned  to  their  heathen 
superstitions.1  Again  a  change  of  sentiment 
— it  could  hardly  be  called  conviction — in  1881. 
Such  religious  agility  on  the  part  of  King 
Mtesa  enables  us  to  see  clearly  that  Moham- 
medanism, as  Christianity,  was  for  him  little 
more  than  a  name,  and  that  while  nominally 
converted  to  Islam,  at  least  for  a  while,  his 
people  remained  practically  unaffected.  The 
story  of  this  native  African  kingdom  would 
have  been  lost  for  us  were  it  not  for  the  close 
connection  of  these  changes  with  recent  explor- 
ation throughout  that  region.  But  it  leads  us 
to  question  the  reality  of  Mohammedan  con- 
quest, and  the  degree  of  Mohammedan  influ- 
ence, in  other  kingdoms,  the  story  of  whose 
conversion  we  do  not  chance  to  know  so 
clearly.  All  reliable  testimony  leads  irresisti- 
bly to  the  conclusion  that  Islam  in  Central 
Africa  has  accomplished  little  more  than  a 
superficial  change — and  largely  not  even  that. 
Dr.  Pruen  writes,  "  I  have  never  seen  a  Swa- 

1  The  Story  of  Uganda,  S.  G.  Stock,  77. 


144  Islam  in  Africa 

hili  [Mohammedan]  perform  any  other  relig- 
ious duty  than  to  turn  a  sheep  or  goat  towards 
Mecca  before  he  cut  its  throat."  '  Again  :  "  I 
do  not  know  any  single  instance  in  Eastern 
Equatorial  Africa  of  a  pure  native  who  has 
become  a  true  and  earnest  Mohammedan. 
There  are  many  nominal  ones.  The  nominal 
Mohammedan  cares  practically  nothing  for  reli- 
gious rites,  and  never  performs  them  when  alone, 
nor  when  in  company  unless  in  the  presence  of 
an  Arab."3  This  indifference  of  the  nominal 
Mohammedans  of  Eastern  Equatorial  Africa 
to  the  demands  of  their  religion  seems  to  be 
largely  a  characteristic  throughout.  The  Kha- 
lifa himself  never  prayed  in  private.9  There 
are  earnest  and  true  Mohammedans,  but  they 
are  largely  of  Arab  or  half-Arab  parentage. 
So  far  as  the  original  tribes  are  concerned, 
Mohammedanism  is  merely  a  thin  veneer, 
where  it  exists  at  all.  Its  semi-civilisation  is 
due  as  much  to  the  superior  capacity  of  the 
natives  whom  it  has  reached  as  to  any  inherent 

1  The  Arab  and  the  African,  S.  T.  Truen,  264. 

*  Ibid.,  297. 

3  Fire  and  Sword  in  the  Sudan,  Slatin  Pasha,  547. 


The  Change  from  Paganism     145 

elevating  power  of  Islam  itself.  The  doctrine 
of  one  God  is  doubtless  a  great  leap  upward 
from  paganism  ;  but  it  will  be  found  that  even 
this  central  and  essential  thought  is  hardly 
grasped  by  the  Central-African  Mohammedan. 
Instead,  a  modified  fetichism  is  all  that  the 
followers  of  the  great  prophet  have  been  able 
to  effect. 

This  is  a  somewhat  startling  assertion,  when 
we  remember  that  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of 
God  is  the  great  and  essential  cry  of  Islam  from 
east  to  west.  It  is  its  boast  and  glory  that 
idols  are  shattered  by  it  wherever  it  goes ;  that 
the  clouds  of  polytheism  are  dissipated  by  it 
as  the  mist  by  the  sun.  But,  strangely,  what 
Mohammed  did  in  Mecca  when  he  broke  the 
idols,  what  his  zealous  followers  did  in  such 
lands  as  India  where  they  met  with  a  devel- 
oped polytheism,  Mohammedanism  has  been 
incapable  of  accomplishing  in  Central  Africa. 
The  native  form  of  religion  eludes  the  attack — 
for  the  simple  reason  that  it  presents  no  idols 
to  break. 

To  understand  this  failure  of  Mohammedan- 
ism   to   produce   marked    religious   change   in 


146  Islam  in  Africa 

Central  Africa,  it  is  necessary  to  look  briefly  at 
the  native  religion — if  it  may  be  called  such. 
Throughout  the  larger  part  of  the  Dark  Contin- 
ent a  terribly  superstitious  and  debasing  form 
of  fetichism  prevails :  it  is  one  of  the  lowest 
manifestations  of  the  natural  religious  instinct 
of  man.  There  is  throughout,  apparently,  a  be- 
lief in  a  Supreme  Power  of  God — but  so  vague 
as  to  be  utterly  indefinable.  The  thoughts,  or 
rather  fears,  of  the  natives  are  centred  in  the 
race  of  demons  which  mixes  with  human  life. 
An  oppressive  fear  possesses  all.  These  de- 
mons are  largely,  or  entirely,  evil  agents.  A 
universal  faith  in  witchcraft  arises,  with  all  its 
terrors.  The  ordeal  by  fire  and  water  is  ap- 
plied on  slightest  cause  or  occasion.  A  super- 
stitious faith  in  charms  arises  naturally.  There 
has  not  been  sufficient  advance,  either  intellect- 
ually or  socially,  to  develop  the  more  definite 
conceptions  of  polytheism.  Hence  Moham- 
medanism is  brought  face  to  face  simply  with 
a  vague  imagination  and  a  terrible  fear.  It 
lifts  the  mallet  to  break  the  image — and  strikes 
nothing  but  air.  The  fetiches  that  play  so 
large  a  part  as  objects  of  African  reverence  are 


The  Change  from  Paganism     147 

not  idols,  gods,  or  representations  of  gods; 
they  are  simply  objects  in  which  supernatural 
power  is  supposed  to  reside. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Mohammedanism 
finds  it  easy  to  assert  its  doctrine  of  the  one 
true  God.  The  idea  of  Mohammed  as  the 
Great  Prophet,  also,  is  easily  acceptable  by  the 
natives.  The  real  point  at  issue  between  Mo- 
hammedanism and  African  fetichism  is  in  the 
superstitious  fear  of  the  native,  manifesting 
itself  in  charms  and  in  the  abominations  con- 
nected with  witchcraft.  Now  the  peculiarity 
of  Islam  in  Central  Africa  lies  in  the  fact  that 
it  has  absorbed  and  assimilated  this  supersti- 
tious fear.  It  may  be  that  it  substitutes  its  own 
fetiches  for  the  original  native  objects  of  super- 
stition :  but  it  does  not  essentially  change  that 
superstition.  "  As  the  ruder  tribes  [in  the 
Mandingo]  region  do  not  addict  themselves  to 
the  intellectual  habits  of  the  Mandingoes,  it 
has  been  found  necessary  to  adjust  that  faith 
to  the  necessities  of  the  case ;  and  to  temper 
some  of  the  mummeries  of  the  fetiches  with 
the  teachings  of  Islam."  '     The  Koran  is  made 

1  Journey  to  Afusardu,  39. 


1 48  Islam  in  Africa 

little  more  than  a  fetich.  Charms,  largely  pass- 
ages from  the  Koran  written  on  slips  of  paper 
and  enclosed  in  cases,  or  bound  around  beef- 
bones,  worn  on  the  person  or  buried  in  the  earth, 
are  most  efficacious  in  peace  or  in  war,  in  any 
extremity.1  Again  we  quote  Bishop  Crowther's 
assertion — "  the  real  vocation  of  the  (so-called) 
quiet  apostles  of  the  Koran,  is  that  of  fetish 
peddlers."  And  Mr.  Lander  says  of  these 
Mohammedan  teachers,  "  These  Mollahs  pro- 
cure an  easy  subsistence  by  making  fetiches — 
writing  charms  on  bits  of  wood  which  are 
washed  off  carefully  in  a  basin  of  water  and 
drunk  with  avidity  by  the  multitude."2  Mr. 
Felkin  found  this  fetich-like  superstition  in  the 
Egyptian  Soudan  ;  he  writes,  "  Some  of  the 
Mohammedan  priests  profess  to  write  charms 
which  render  their  possessors  perfectly  bullet- 
proof." 3  It  extends  even  into  the  purer  Mo- 
hammedanism of  the  desert ;  for  Mohammed, 

1  yourney  to  Musardu,  33  ;  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam, 
and  the  Negro  Race,  203. 

,J  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity,  F.  F.  Ellinwood, 
D.D.,  211. 

3  Uganda  and  the  Egyptian  Soudan,  Wilson  and  Felkin,  ii., 
59- 


The  Change  from  Paganism     H9 

the  Islamic  Marabout  who  undertook  the  guid- 
ance of  Mr.  Richardson's  camel  in  his  desert 
journey,  applied  verses  of  the  Koran  to  the 
eyes  of  his  wife's  sister,  "which  were  more 
efficacious  than  all  my  physic."  Some  of  these 
bits  of  paper  with  the  name  of  God  written  on 
them  were  steeped  in  water  and  swallowed  by 
the  patient.  This  superstition  of  swallowing 
bits  of  paper  with  the  name  of  God  and  verses 
of  the  Koran  written  on  them,  as  well  as  the 
water  in  which  the  paper  is  steeped,  is  preval- 
ent as  an  infallible  remedy  in  all  Mohammedan 
Africa.1  Islam  in  Central  Africa,  and  to  some 
degree  in  Northern  Africa,  is  little  more  than 
a  slightly  modified  fetichism. 

That  but  slight  change  from  paganism  is 
wrought  by  Mohammedanism  in  Africa  is 
evident  in  other  matters  as  well.  The  act  of 
prayer,  so  conspicuous  and  important  in  typical 
Mohammedan  regions,  becomes  increasingly 
neglected  as  one  penetrates  southward  into  the 
continent  of  Africa.  Mr.  Wilson  observed  that 
during  the  whole  time  in  which  some  Uganda 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1848,  i.,  58. 


150  Islam  in  Africa 

Mohammedans  were  with  him — save  on  one 
occasion  when  his  boat  was  in  extreme  danger 
— he  never  knew  them  to  pray,  though  they 
professed  to  be  strict  Moslems.1  Throughout 
the  whole  range  of  literature  concerning  Cent- 
ral Africa,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to 
observe,  so  little  reference  is  made  to  the  Mo- 
hammedan act  of  prayer — so  conspicuous  in 
Arabian  and  Turkish  Mohammedanism — that 
we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  prac- 
tically lost  in  Central  Africa.  Also,  Moham- 
medanism has  practically  left  pagan  polygamy 
intact,  "  in  principle  and  in  practice."  2 

So  far  as  religious  manifestation  is  concerned, 
the  change  from  paganism  wrought  by  Moham- 
medanism in  Central  Africa  is  but  slight.  Yet 
civilisation  of  a  certain  sort  has  certainly  ad- 
vanced into  Central  Africa  with  Mohammedan- 
ism. Islam  is  a  step,  even  if  only  one  step,  in 
advance  of  paganism.  The  cry  "  There  is  no 
God  but  God  and  Mohammed  is  His  apostle  " 
— "  an   eternal  truth   and   an   eternal  lie  " — at 

1  Uganda  and  the  Egyptian  Soudan,  Wilson  and  Felkin,  i., 
119. 

2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  382. 


The  Change  from  Paganism     151 

least  contains  a  more  advanced  assertion  of  the 
great  truth  than  anything  that  paganism  pre- 
sents. Behind  that  cry,  and  uttering  it,  is  a 
more  or  less  zealous  band  of  warriors  and 
teachers,  to  enforce  the  acceptance  of  this  short 
and  simple  creed.  They  bring  with  them  ideas 
of  another,  a  higher,  civilisation.  The  modific- 
ations of  pure  Mohammedanism  which  African 
paganism  accomplishes  are  not  sufficient  en- 
tirely  to  cut  off  this  connection  with  an  outer 
and  higher  world.  As  an  indication  that  Islam, 
in  its  advance  through  Africa,  has  accomplished 
some  improvements  of  social  condition,  even 
though  but  little  modification  of  religious 
thought,  take  the  fact  that  the  Arab  has  been 
the  means  of  introducing  the  Swahili  language 
throughout  Central  Africa — thus  making  a  med- 
ium of  general  communication,  not  simply  for 
the  Arab  trader,  but  for  the  Christian  mission- 
ary.1 The  language  of  the  slave-trader  has 
been  utilised  as  the  language  of  the  Word  of 
God. 

In  the  matter  of  education  is  the  clearest  in- 
dication  of   what   Islam    has  accomplished   in 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  xii.,  462. 


152  Islam  in  Africa 

African  paganism.  Undoubtedly  there  is,  in 
the  religion  of  the  great  prophet,  some  incent- 
ive to  learning  of  a  certain  kind.  Reverence 
for  the  Koran  incites  to  study  of  its  language. 
But,  in  general,  the  inspiration  leads  no  farther 
than  into  the  sacred  book  and  its  accompanying 
traditions.  There  is  but  little  idea  of  general 
education.  The  devotee  learns  the  Koran  by 
heart  and  copies  the  characters — though  "  it  is 
believed  by  many  persons  that  the  Arabic 
learning  of  our  Mandingoes,  in  reading  and 
writing  from  the  Koran,  is  merely  mechanical, 
or  a  mere  matter  of  memory."  '  But,  without 
question,  the  earnest  Mohammedan  is  prompted 
strongly  to  learn  Arabic  that  he  may  read  the 
Koran  for  himself  ;  he  acquires  thereby  a 
means  of  receiving  new  ideas  which,  to  some 
extent,  are  uplifting.  Teachers  of  Arabic  go 
through  the  country.  Schools  are  established. 
Dr.  Blyden 2  gives  a  glowing  picture  of  the  way 
in  which  African  youth  rush  into  Mohammedan 
Arabic    literature    and    culture.       He    says3: 

1  Journey  to  Musardu,  40. 

2  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  205-211. 

3  Ibid.,  360. 


The  Change  from  Paganism     153 

"Throughout  Mohammedan  Africa,  education 
is  compulsory.  A  man  might  now  travel 
across  the  continent,  sleeping  in  a  village  every 
night  except  in  the  Sahara ;  and  in  every  vil- 
lage he  will  find  a  school."  But  we  do  not  find 
such  statements  verified  ;  on  the  contrary  there 
is  much  to  render  them  doubtful.  The  most 
that  we  can  assert  is  that  Mohammedanism 
provides  an  incentive  to  a  certain  amount  of 
intellectual  culture,  and  that  considerable  intel- 
lectual activity  accompanies  it,  where  the  proper 
development  of  its  influence  is  allowed.  The 
mere  fact  that  Mohammedanism  inculcates  a 
pilgrimage  to  Mecca  at  least  once  during  the 
lifetime,  and  that  for  various  reasons  Moham- 
medans in  Africa  are  great  travellers,1  will 
serve  to  indicate  and  explain  much  of  this 
educational  stimulus. 

Mohammedanism  has  done  something  to- 
wards  developing  agriculture  in  some  parts  of 
Africa,  and  business  enterprise  throughout, 
save  as  the  slave-trade  has  wrought  desolation 
rather  than  prosperity.  But  there  is  in  Africa, 
particularly  in  the  north,  trade  "  untainted  by 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Isla?n,  and  the  Negro  Race,  215. 


154  Islam  in  Africa 

slavery."  2  Interchange  of  sympathy  between 
the  Mohammedan  communities  undoubtedly 
stimulates  interchange  of  goods. 

In  one  great  point,  Mohammedanism  makes 
marked  change.  It  certainly  develops  self- 
respect  in  the  native,  so  far  as  its  essential  ideas 
really  possess  him.  "  The  negro  who  accepts 
Mohammedanism  acquires  at  once  a  sense  of 
the  dignity  of  human  nature."3  The  true  Mo- 
hammedan believer  knows  God,  believes  him- 
self to  be  favoured  by  God,  is  taught  to  assert 
himself  as  an  equal  among  believers — even  if  a 
slave.  Theoretically,  and  to  some  extent  in 
fact,  Islam  makes  a  man  of  the  pagan.  Costume 
is  an  indication ;  King  Mtesa  signalised  his 
acceptance  of  Mohammedanism  by  putting  on 
the  Arab  costume. 

Comparatively  little  elevation  of  religious 
ideas,  a  single  step  in  advance  in  general  civilis- 
ation, some  educational  stimulus,  some  de- 
velopment of  self-respect, — all  this  we  recognise 
as  accomplished  by  Mohammedanism  in  Africa. 

1  Travels  in  the  Great  Desert  of  Sahara,  James  Richardson, 
London,  1848,  preface,  xxv. 

2  Mr.  R.  Bosworth  Smith — quoted  in  Christianity,  Islam, 
and  the  Negro  Race,  Blyden,  11. 


The  Change  from  Paganism     155 

Yet  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  go  to  the  extreme 
to  which  such  writers  as  Bosworth  Smith,  Canon 
Taylor,  and  Winwood  Reade  go — when  they 
assert,  for  example,  that  Mohammedanism  "  is 
better  adapted  to  the  country  than  Christ- 
ianity "  '  ;  that  the  progress  of  any  large  part 
of  the  negro  race  is  in  proportion  to  its  Moham- 
medanism 2 ;  or  that  "  Mohammed  redeemed 
the  Eastern  World  and  his  followers  are  re- 
deeming Africa." s  We  cannot  fully  agree 
even  with  Dr.  H.  P.  Smith  as  he  says,  "  We 
cannot  doubt  that  even  now  it  [Islam]  carries 
into  the  heart  of  Africa  a  civilisation  and  a 
morality  that  are  an  immense  advance,"  etc.4 
For  a  correct  understanding  of  the  problem  it 
is  most  important  to  see  clearly  that  unwar- 
ranted exaggeration  of  statement  has  been 
made  so  frequently  and  publicly  as  largely  to 
mislead.  A  careful  investigation  will  surely 
show  that  the  imagination  of  some  men  has 
unaccountably  run  riot  in  dealing  with  Islam 
in  Africa. 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  iii.,  68. 

2  Mohammed  and  Mohatnmedanism,  R.  Bosworth  Smith,  56. 

3  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,   i.,  9. 

4  The  Bible  and  Islam,  Dr.  II.  P.  Smith,  318. 


156  Islam  in  Africa 

In  this  connection  it  must  be  noted  that  there 
is  a  tendency  towards  fixedness,  a  stereotyp- 
ing process,  that  characterises  Mohammedanism 
everywhere.  As  it  fastens  itself  upon  an  in- 
ferior community  it  tends  to  raise  that  people 
up  to  its  level — but  to  fix  them  there.  It  cuts 
off  the  possibility  of  further  advance,  save  so 
far  as  its  essential  influences  may  be  counter- 
acted from  without.  This  is  startlingly  illus- 
trated in  North  Africa :  the  Barbary  States 
were  stereotyped  centuries  ago.  This  tendency 
is  essential  in  the  system.  The  Mohammedan 
believes  that  the  Koran  is  the  last  and  unalter- 
able revelation  from  God — it  holds  the  Moham- 
medan world  fast;  and  it  is  only  too  evident 
that  it  has  not  within  itself  any  supernatural 
adaptation  to  human  needs  and  advance.  Also, 
in  the  repressive  effects  of  that  fatalism  which, 
though  perhaps  not  a  doctrine,  is  yet  the 
practical  result  of  Mohammedan  teaching,  we 
have  additional  reason  for  this  tendency  of 
Mohammedanism  to  stop  immovably  at  a 
certain  point. 

"  Nothing  in  the  world  is  so  energetic  as  a  Mo- 
hammedan nation  in  its  youth  and  nothing  is  so 


The  Change  from  Paganism     157 

truly  feeble  as  a  Mohammedan  nation  in  old  age. 
.  .  .  A  Mohammedan  nation  accepts  a  certain 
amount  of  truth,  receives  a  certain  amount  of  civ- 
ilisation, practices  a  certain  amount  of  toleration. 
But  all  these  are  so  many  obstacles  to  the  accept- 
ance of  truth,  civilisation,  and  toleration  in  their 
perfect  shape.  The  Moslem  has  just  enough  on 
which  to  rest  and  pride  himself  and  no  longer  feels 
his  own  deficiencies."  ' 

Mr.  Sell  says  of  the  great  Mohammedan  re- 
ligious order  of  the  Sanusiyah  : a 

"  The  great  object  of  the  founder  '  was  to  erect 
an  impassable  barrier  to  the  progress  of  Western 
civilisation  and  the  influence  of  Christian  powers 
in  Muslim  lands.'  In  these  ardent  propagators  of 
a  great  Pan-Islamic  movement  it  is  possible  that 
Great  Britain  and  France  will  find  deadly  foes 
harder  to  conquer  than  the  Khalifa  and  his  der- 
vishes." 

In  estimating  the  change  wrought  in  African 
paganism  by  Mohammedanism,  while  recognis- 
ing some  advance,  we  must  consider  this  draw- 
back,— that  essentially  it  lifts  the  natives  a  little 
way,  only  to  fasten  them  at  that  point  the  more 
obstinately.  We  have  seen  that  the  point  of 
elevation  is  indeed  low. 

1  History  and  Conquest  of  the  Saracens,  E.  A.  Freeman,  57, 

2  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  January,  1899. 


158  Islam  in  Africa 

We  may  well  question  as  to  whether  Islam 
has  been,  on  the  whole,  of  advantage  to  Africa. 
The  enthusiastic  claims  of  those  who  have  held 
it  as  the  highest  possibility  for  Africa,  and 
even  of  those  who  have  claimed  it  as  the  best 
preparation  for  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
must  be  largely  discounted.  When  we  remem- 
ber the  responsibilities  of  Mohammedanism  for 
the  slave-trade,  when  we  consider  the  vast 
desolation  and  cruelty  wrought  under  the 
sanction  of  Mohammed,  when  we  remember 
that  such  evils  as  polygamy  and  divorce  and 
slavery  "  must  continue  to  flow  so  long  as  the 
Koran  is  the  standard  of  the  people  " ',  when 
we  consider  that  an  almost  insuperable  barrier 
is  raised  by  Mohammedanism  against  anything 
higher  and  better,  we  may  well  feel  inclined  to 
assert  with  a  recent  writer3  that  "Islam  is  at 
the  bottom  of  the  weight  of  ills  under  which 
Africa  is  suffering."  Is  real  advance  wrought 
in  African  paganism  by  Islam  ?  Little  or  none. 
Indeed,  so  superficial,  from  this  point  of  view, 

1  Sir  William   Muir — quoted  in  the  Missionary  Atlas,  i., 
7o. 

2  Quoted  in  the  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  i.,  9, 


The  Change  from  Paganism     159 

is  the  Mohammedanism  of  large  parts  of  Africa 
that  "  the  conversion  of  a  whole  pagan  commun- 
ity to  Islam  need  not  imply  more  effort,  more 
sincerity,  or  more  vital  change  than  the  conver- 
sion of  a  single  individual  to  Christianity."  1 

1  R.   Bosworth  Smith — quoted  in    Oriental  Religions  and 
Christianity  ,  F.  F.  Ellinwood,  D.D.,  220. 


m*i 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  AFRICAN   TYPE   OF   MOHAMMEDANISM 


ISLAM  is  Islam  the  world  over.  But  there 
are  distinctions  and  differences  important  to 
notice.  In  Africa  there  is  a  markedly  distinct 
type  of  Mohammedanism.  In  the  development 
of  this  religion  in  the  Dark  Continent,  under 
the  peculiar  conditions  involved,  there  has  been 
a  somewhat  startling  divergence  from  the  old 
type.  The  natural  development  of  Islam  in 
other  countries  has  produced  a  something  in 
many  respects  different  from  the  ideal  of  the 
great  prophet  and  of  his  immediate  successors  ; 
yet  we  behold  in  Turkey,  Arabia,  and  Egypt 
what  may  be  called  the  orthodox  type — in  con- 
trast with  what  is  to  be  found  largely  in  Central 
Africa,  and  in  varying  degrees  throughout 
North  Africa.  At  least  to  our  imagination, 
old  Islam  presented  almost  the  ideal  of  heroism, 
160 


African  Mohammedanism      161 

of  zeal,  of  a  faith  true  even  if  incomplete.  Or. 
thodox  Islam  in  these  evil  days  presents  a  de- 
terioration into  weakness,  sensuality,  sterility 
— youthful  Islam  grown  old  and  decrepit  and 
bad.  In  African  Islam  we  have  a  renewal  of 
youth  —  characterised  by  an  enlargement,  a 
superficiality,  a  selfish  and  materialistic  greed,  a 
combination  of  all  that  has  been  proved  bad, 
with  but  little  of  what  has  been  proved  good, 
both  in  the  youth  and  the  age  of  Islam. 

"  All  the  bad,  salient  features  of  Mohammedanism 
are  asserted — intolerance,  polygamy,  slavery,  un- 
natural crime,  contempt  of  human  life,  an  over- 
weening pride — while  the  better  things  to  be  found 
in  the  Koran,  and  the  learning  and  the  refinement 
of  the  polished  Mohammedan  of  India,  and  Persia, 
and  Turkey,  are  totally  absent."  ' 

Let  us  notice  some  particulars.  See  in  the 
first  place  that  African  Mohammedanism  is 
characterised  by  aggressiveness.  This  was  the 
marked  characteristic  of  Mohammedanism  as  it 
sprang  from  the  brain  of  the  great  prophet, 
and  was  asserted  by  his  immediate  successors. 
It  was  with  a  mighty  aggressiveness  that  they 

1   The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iii.,  204. 


1 62  Islam  in  Africa 

began,  and  continued,  their  wonderful  career 
of  conquest.  Aggressiveness  was  inherent  in 
the  system.  In  its  decrepitude,  Mohammedan- 
ism has  now  largely  ceased  the  attempt  to 
assert  itself  by  force  against  the  infidel  nations 
around  ;  indeed  there  is  a  great  question  as  to 
whether  or  not  Mohammedanism  in  general 
has  of  late  really  made  any  advance  outside  of 
Africa. 

But  in  the  Dark  Continent  Islam  has,  through- 
out this  century,  been  markedly  aggressive- 
making  large  advance.  There  are  many  indic- 
ations which  lead  one  to  believe  that  its  pro- 
gress, even  in  Africa,  has  now  ceased ;  and 
that,  perforce,  its  aggressiveness  there,  too,  is 
curbed.  With  the  entrance  of  European  influ- 
ence into  Africa,  Arab  and  Mohammedan  es- 
tablishment must  cease  advance  ;  rather,  must 
recede.  But  it  is  in  Africa  that  later  Moham- 
medanism has  shown  itself  on  a  large  scale  as 
nearest  the  original  type  in  its  aggressive  en- 
ergy. That  mighty  impulse,  crystallised  in  the 
Koran,  which  forces  the  believer  to  swing  his 
sword  over  his  infidel  neighbour,  demanding 
confession  or  life,  has   manifested  itself  for  a 


African  Mohammedanism      163 

while  irrepressibly  in  the  Mohammedan  tribes 
of  Africa.  And  it  is  in  the  region  of  Eastern 
Soudan  that  we  have  seen  the  mightiest  revival 
of  the  old  Islamic  spirit — in  the  furious  aggres- 
siveness of  the  dervishes,  sweeping  the  soldiery 
of  England  and  Egypt  from  the  field,  annihilat- 
ing armies,  seeking  to  obtain  a  country  in  the 
name  of  God  and  for  His  prophet  the  Mahdi. 
The  conquests  in  Central  and  Western  Soudan 
indicate  this  same  aggressiveness. 

It  is  said  that  throughout  a  large  part  of 
Mohammedanism  in  the  world  there  are  in- 
dications of  a  general  unrest.  It  may  be  that 
the  extraordinary  activity  of  Islam,  lately,  in 
Africa,  is  but  a  part  of  a  general  stir;  but  the 
fact  remains  that  here  we  have  this  restless- 
ness turned  into  aggressive  progress,  exhibited 
to  a  degree  nowhere  else  shown  throughout 
the  Mohammedan  world.  It  distinguishes  the 
African  type. 

Again,  we  notice  that  African  Mohammedan- 
ism is  characterised  by  superficiality.  Early 
Islam,  in  its  progress,  left  behind  it  only  true 
believers,  or  slaves  of  believers,  or  the  dead 
bodies  of  the  unconvertible  infidel.     Its  work 


164  Islam  in  Africa 

was  thorough — as  is  that  of  the  forest  fire. 
This  same  completeness  of  conversion,  or  ex- 
tinction, characterises  the  orthodox  Mohamme- 
danism of  to-day,  in  so  far  as  it  has  power.  But 
a  marked  feature  of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa 
lies  in  this, — that  it  burns  only  in  patches,  and 
merely  the  underbrush.  Mohammedan  states 
border  upon  pagan  tribes  ;  Mohammedan  indi- 
viduals are  surrounded  by  unbelievers  ;  Moham- 
medan aggressiveness  seeks  to  reach  them — but 
not  to  exterminate  them  ;  Mohammedan  con- 
quest is  only  on  the  surface  of  individual  or 
social  life — as  we  have  seen.  The  African 
Mohammedan  is  still  a  pagan. 

To  some  extent  this  superficiality  of  religion 
— in  marked  contrast  to  the  old  Islamic  intens- 
ity of  religious  zeal  and  to  modern  Turkish  in- 
tolerance— is  to  be  seen  even  in  North  Africa. 
It  is  more  clearly  shown  in  the  elasticity  with 
which  Islam  adapts  itself  to  the  habits  of  Cent- 
ral African  life  and  thought.  It  is  also  indic- 
ated in  the  fact  that  African  Mohammedanism, 
markedly,  pays  less  attention  to  tradition  than 
to  the  text  of  the  Koran  '  ;  as  with  the  Phari- 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  vii. ,  411. 


African  Mohammedanism      165 

sees  of  old  Judea,  intense  devotion  to  Moham- 
medanism should  be  marked  by  the  careful  ob- 
servance of  tradition,  and  neglect  therein  proves 
a  lapse  from  the  old  orthodoxy.  In  many  ways 
it  can  be  shown  that  African  Mohammedanism 
is  superficial,  as  compared  with  the  penetration 
of  Islam  into  the  heart  and  life  of  its  early 
adherents,  and  even  of  its  later  orthodox 
professors. 

This  leads  us  to  a  third  suggestion.  African 
Mohammedanism  is  characterised  by  a  lessened 
zeal  in  proselytism.  A  fiery  fury  led  the  early 
Mohammedans  into  a  career  of  proselytism 
that  seemed  limited  only  by  the  reach  of  the 
race  of  man  ;  they  would  win  souls  for  God 
and  His  prophet,  even  if  in  so  doing  they  must 
die  and  enter  Paradise.  Perhaps  nowhere 
throughout  human  history,  at  least  on  so  large 
a  scale,  can  we  find  a  similar  exhibition  of  zeal 
in  proselytism.  But  the  Arab  charger  has 
been  tamed  into  a  draught-horse ;  much  of  his 
spirit  is  gone.  And  yet  in  the  Mohammedan- 
ism of  Turkey,  and  perhaps  India,  there  is  still 
a  longing  for  the  conversion  of  the  infidel ;  and 
we  hear  of  more  or  less  attempt  at  propaganda 


1 66  Islam  in  Africa 

in  America  as  elsewhere.  The  zeal  for  pros- 
elytism  is  not  dead,  even  in  Africa.  But  it  is 
surprising  to  find  with  what  tolerance  the 
average  African  Mohammedan  will  view  the 
infidel  or  pagan  ;  and  how  comparatively  easy 
is  access  to  him  on  the  part  of  the  Christian 
missionary.  In  those  days  when  the  believer 
could  not  look  with  the  least  degree  of  allow- 
ance upon  dissent  from  his  doctrine,  it  would 
be  hardly  possible  to  imagine  such  tolerance 
as  is  exhibited  in  many  places  by  the  African 
Mohammedan  of  to-day.  Were  the  old  zeal 
burning  within  him,  he  would  seek  to  make 
converts  by  the  old  and  orthodox  methods ; 
but  that  is  not  the  characteristic  of  the  African 
Mohammedan  in  general.  With  many  and 
great  exceptions,  this  lessening  zeal  in  pros- 
elytism  may  be  said  to  distinguish  the  present 
type  of  Islam  in  Africa.  The  fiery  zeal  of 
Omar,  the  fury  of  Khaled  "  the  sword  of  God," 
have  worn  themselves  out — or  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  Paradise. 

Again,  African  Mohammedanism  is  now 
characterised  by  a  decided  materialism.  The 
things  of  this  life    are  considered  rather  than 


African  Mohammedanism      167 

the  things  of  the  spirit  life.  It  is  the  material, 
rather  than  the  spiritual,  that  occupies  thought 
and  fills  ambition.  This  is  in  clear  contrast  to 
the  old  Mohammedanism — which  dwelt  largely 
on  the  thought  of  God  and  imagination  con- 
cerning Paradise.  So  real  was  the  unseen  to 
the  Mohammedan  warrior  of  the  older  days 
that  he  entered  battle,  rushed  upon  death, 
with  the  joy  of  a  bridegroom.  So  clear  was  his 
assurance  of  the  favour  of  the  Divine  Being 
that  he  went  forth  in  a  strength  almost  super- 
natural. Throughout  human  history  it  has 
always  been  this  realisation  of  the  unseen  that 
has  most  completely  armed  and  inspired  the 
children  of  men. 

But  we  cannot  help  seeing,  particularly  in 
the  Mohammedanism  of  Central  Africa  but 
as  well  to  some  degree  throughout  the  Mo- 
hammedanism of  the  whole  continent,  that  the 
unseen  has  largely  lost  its  power.  We  have 
already  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  higher, 
the  immaterial,  elements  of  religion  seem  to 
find  but  comparatively  little  place  in  African 
Mohammedanism.  Prayer  is  neglected,  the 
mosque  is  inconspicuous,  the  Koran  is  largely 


168  Islam  in  Africa 

a  charm  to  protect  from  earthly  evil,  Paradise 
is  far  off  and  vague.  The  African  Moham- 
medan is  occupied  too  largely  with  thoughts 
as  to  what  he  shall  eat  and  drink,  if  not  as  to 
the  wherewithal  he  shall  be  clothed. 

It  may  be  that  this  characteristic,  material- 
ism in  his  religion,  is  due  partly  to  the  qualities 
of  the  negro  mind  and  the  circumstances  of 
negro  life.  We  would  repeatedly  urge  the 
truth  that  the  negro,  though  not  inferior  to 
the  white  man,  is  different.  We  gladly  recog- 
nise possibilities  in  the  character  and  constitu- 
tion of  the  negro  which  will  render  him  in 
some  respects  superior  to  his  paler  brethren, 
counterbalancing  inferiority  in  other  respects. 
Yet  it  must  be  acknowledged  that,  partly 
because  of  his  racial  tendencies  and  his  environ- 
ment, it  seems  impossible  for  him  to  emphasise 
the  immaterial  features  of  Mohammedanism, 
as  they  have  become  the  mighty  inspiration  of 
the  believer  in  other  places  and  times.  The 
fact  remains  that  the  negro  Mohammedan  is 
decidedly  earthly  in  his  religion. 

This  evident  neglect  of  the  spiritual,  in  view 
of  the  material,  is  also  due  largely  to  Moham- 


African  Mohammedanism      169 

medan  methods  of  advance — particularly  in 
Central  Africa.  When  a  tribe  is  placed  in  the 
unpleasant  dilemma  of  choosing  conversion  or 
slavery,  and  as,  naturally,  it  prefers  nominal  con- 
version and  Mohammedan  dominancy  to  the 
horrors  of  a  slave-raid,  the  religion  thus  self- 
ishly established  can  have  but  little  chance  to 
develop  in  its  converts  those  spiritualities  to- 
wards which  it  is  supposed  to  lead,  though 
ruthlessly.  The  negro  proselyte  has  obtained 
relief  and  security  for  himself ;  he  goes  his  way 
and  is  content.  The  demands  of  his  religion 
are  not  such  as  to  open  the  skyward  vision  of 
his  soul. 

But  no  amount  of  explanation  concerning 
this  characteristic  of  African  Mohammedanism 
in  general  will  do  away  with  the  fact  that  it  is 
an  evidence  of  real  decline.  His  religion  is 
largely  in  material  satisfaction,  and  for  earthly 
gain.  Even  in  North  Africa  and  the  desert 
there  are  many  indications  of  such  materialism  ; 
and,  in  spite  of  the  furious  religious  revivals  of 
the  Mahdis  of  both  Eastern  and  Western  Sou- 
dan, the  average  Mohammedanism  of  the  conti- 
nent is  too  largely  limited  by  an  earthly  horizon. 


i/o  Islam  in  Africa 

Notice  another  characteristic:  African  Mo- 
hammedanism is  cruelly  selfish.  It  can  hardly 
be  claimed  that  Islam,  at  any  time  or  in  any 
place,  has  been  unduly  gentle  or  considerate. 
A  selfish  cruelty  was  breathed  forth  by  the 
prophet  himself,  and  has  characterised  the 
religion  throughout.  But  in  Africa  its  develop- 
ment in  this  respect  has  been  awful.  Particu- 
larly is  this  revealed  in  the  slave-trade,  which, 
in  some  parts  of  Africa,  has  become  almost 
identical  with  Mohammedanism.  "  Slavery,  as 
the  Arabs  themselves  declared,  was  their  very 
life."  '  In  those  regions  wherein  the  Arab  is 
the  Mohammedan  representative  and  mission- 
ary the  cruelties  of  the  slave-trade  are,  verily, 
a  part  of  his  religion  ;  and  as  African  Moham- 
medanism sanctions  and  succours  the  African 
slave-trade,  this  selfish  cruelty  becomes  a  gen- 
eral characteristic.  "  Slavery  is  a  very  essential 
part  of  their  system,  civil,  social,  and  religious."  2 
And  the  startling  fact  is  that  this  cruelty  of 
slavery  is,  apparently,  in  contradiction  to  the 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World y  v.,  717. 

2  Dr.  Hamlin  in  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i., 

864. 


African  Mohammedanism      171 

teaching  of  Mohammed,  at  least  as  proclaimed 
by  the  Turkish  Minister  at  a  conference  held 
at  Brussels  a  few  years  ago.  This  representa- 
tive of  Mohammedanism, on  hearing  an  address 
by  Cardinal  Lavigerie  on  the  "  African  Slave- 
Trade,"  took  occasion  to  protest,  saying  that 
the  teaching  of  Mohammed  is  contained  in  the 
words,  "  the  worst  of  men  is  he  who  sells  men." 
The  Cardinal  replied  : 

"  I  do  not  know  in  Africa  a  single  Mohammedan 
state,  great  or  small,  the  sovereign  of  which  does 
not  permit,  and  more  often  himself  practises  upon 
his  subjects,  and  in  ways  the  most  barbarous  in 
atrocity,  the  hunting  and  sale  of  slaves  throughout 
all  Africa  ;  it  is  only  Mohammedans  who  organise 
and  conduct  the  bands  who  ravage  it  by  slave-raids 
and  by  the  sale  of  slaves.  ...  I  do  not  know 
.  .  .  a  single  Mohammedan  who  does  not  ad- 
vocate slavery  on  principle.  Never  to  my  know- 
ledge has  any  teacher  ...  of  the  Koran  .  .  . 
protested  against  this  infamous  traffic.  On  the 
contrary,  in  their  conversation  they  recognise  it  all 
as  authorised  by  the  Koran  for  true  believers  as 
regards  infidels."  ' 

And  the  demands  of  Turkish  harems  for 
mutilated  male  attendants,  under  the  implied 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  v.,  109. 


172  Islam  in  Africa 

if  not  explicit  sanction  of  their  religion,  are 
such  as  involve  cruelty  beyond  expression.  It 
is  estimated  that  in  Africa  thousands  of  boys 
are  killed  every  year  in  accomplishing  this  pur- 
pose. "  But  it  is  a  good  and  pious  as  well 
as  a  profitable  work  and  pleasing  to  Allah  and 
the  prophet."  The  subject  presents  a  fearful 
amount  of  sanctified  cruelty ;  it  is  an  essential 
part  of  Islam.1  Enough  has  been  said  to  in- 
dicate a  revolting  characteristic  of  African  Mo- 
hammedanism. Its  cruel  selfishness  stands  out 
conspicuously.  In  this  it  differs,  not  essentially 
but  in  degree,  from  the  modern  Mohamme- 
danism of  some  other  countries. 

One  further  characteristic  must  be  observed  : 
modern  African  Mohammedanism  is  not  impreg- 
nable to  the  attack  of  civilisation  or  of  Christ- 
ianity. Even  in  Morocco,  the  religious  centre 
and  hotbed  of  Islam  in  Africa,  Christianity  has 
effected  entrance.  Mr.  E.  F.  Baldwin  reported 
in  the  year  18892  concerning  a  successful  work 
in  Mogador,  Morocco  ;  there  was  severe  perse- 
cution, but  "  accessions  have  been  constant,  and 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.    865. 

2  Ibid.,  ii.,  525. 


African  Mohammedanism      173 

everyone  baptised  has  renounced  Mohammed- 
anism." He  reported  great  opposition  ;  but 
the  mere  fact  of  his  presence  in  Morocco  is 
significant.  "  It  seems  strange,  as  it  is,  that  in 
Mohammedan  Morocco  the  Moslems  are  free 
to  change  their  religion."  '  We  may  be  in- 
clined to  doubt  the  full  accuracy  of  this  state- 
ment ;  but  that  it  has  been  made  indicates 
something.  Later  information  suggests  a  re- 
vival of  Mohammedan  intolerance  in  Morocco.3 
But  we  have  the  fact  that  in  North  Africa,  even 
in  the  most  violently  Mohammedan  region,  ac- 
cess to  Islam  has  been  had,  and  attack  has  been 
made,  which,  under  like  circumstances,  could 
hardly  have  become  possible  in  some  other 
Mohammedan  countries. 

Whether  or  not  we  shall  be  sustained  in  our 
assertion  that  North-African  Mohammedanism 
is  more  accessible  to  the  "  infidel "  than  the 
intolerant  orthodoxy  of  the  past  and  even  of 
to-day, — though  there  are  many  indications  of 
this, — it  will  be  readily  acknowledged  that  in 
those  large  regions  of  Central  Africa  wherein 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iv. ,  604. 
*  Ibid.,  v.,  608. 


174  Islam  in  Africa 

Islam  has  nominal  supremacy,  the  "  infidel  " 
trader  and  missionary  have  easy  entrance  so 
far  as  intolerance  against  non-Mohammedan  re- 
ligious belief  is  concerned.  Islam  in  Central 
Africa  seems  to  be  far  removed  from  the  old 
ideal.  The  Christian  missionary  may  find  dif- 
ficulty in  approach  ;  but  it  is  largely  caused  by 
pagan  fear,  and  not  by  Mohammedan  prejudice. 
A  tribe  that  is  only  nominally  Mohammedan 
will,  of  course,  feel  but  little  of  that  intense 
hostility  to  another  faith  which,  for  example,  is 
constantly  shown  by  Islam  against  Christians 
in  the  towns  of  Asia  Minor.  As  a  result,  the 
Mohammedanism  of  Africa  is  not  to  be  judged 
as  we  estimate  the  Mohammedanism  of  Asia. 
It  is  not  a  solid  mass,  intolerant,  prejudiced, 
resistant,  impregnable.  He  who  estimates  the 
possibilities  for  European  influence  and  Christ- 
ian conquest  in  Mohammedan  Africa  by  the 
criteria  used  in  judging  of  Mohammedan  Tur- 
key will  be  led  far  astray.  African  Mohammed- 
anism is  not  thus  impregnable  to  attack. 

Such  are  certain  characteristics  conspicuous 
in  African  Mohammedanism.  It  will  be  seen 
that  we  have  here  a  distinct  development  of 


African  Mohammedanism      175 

the  religion  of  the  prophet  and  of  the  Koran. 
It  is  made  clear  that  we  have  in  Africa  a  form 
of  Islam  in  some  respects  nearest  to  the  prim- 
itive type,  but  in  other  respects  far  behind  the 
Mohammedanism  of  other  lands.  "  It  will  be 
another  thousand  years  before  Islam  can  bring 
the  African  to  the  cultured  and  lettered  pre- 
judices of  Moslem  civilisation,  such  as  bind  its 
subjects  at  Cairo,  Ispahan,  Delhi."  '  But  in 
view  of  the  presentation  that  has  been  made,  par- 
ticularly in  this  chapter  but  throughout  as  well, 
we  cannot  refrain  from  an  expression  of  aston- 
ishment that  it  should  ever  have  been  seriously 
imagined,  as  apparently  by  Canon  Taylor  and 
others,  that  Mohammedanism  can  be  a  suffic- 
ient step  upward  for  the  African  pagan  and 
a  sufficient  substitute  for  Christian  civilisation. 
Such  assertion  partakes  too  largely  of  the 
thought  of  a  Mohammedan  shoemaker  in  Mo- 
rocco, who  spoke  as  follows  to  an  English 
traveller,  a  Christian  missionary,  who  was 
clothed  in  Moorish  costume : 

'  You  must  not  wear  our  clothes,  as  they  are  given 
to  us  by  God  to  set  forth  the  character  of  our  re- 
1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  501. 


176  Islam  in  Africa 

ligion  ;  and  He  gave  you  Europeans  your  clothes 
to  set  forth  the  character  of  your  religion.  You 
see  these  garments  of  ours,  how  wide  and  flowing 
they  are  ;  our  sleeves  are  loose,  and  we  have  easy 
fitting  slippers.  As  our  clothes  are  wide,  so  is  our 
religion, — we  can  steal,  tell  lies,  deceive  each  other, 
commit  adultery,  and  do  all  manner  of  iniquity 
just  as  we  wish  ;  and  at  the  last  day  our  prophet 
Mohammed  will  make  it  all  right  for  us.  But  you 
poor  Europeans  !  you  have  tight-fitting  trousers, 
tight-fitting  waistcoats,  and  tight-fitting  jackets. 
Your  clothes  are  just  like  your  religion — narrow. 
If  you  steal,  cheat,  deceive,  or  tell  lies,  you  stand 
in  constant  fear  of  the  condemnation  of  God."1 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  xii.,  544. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE   GREAT   SOLUTION 


AVAST  problem  has  been  opened  before 
the  world — the  civilisation  of  a  continent. 
We  mean  by  that,  the  establishment  of  such 
conditions  of  life,  the  erection  of  such  social 
institutions,  that  mankind  in  Africa  may  have 
opportunity  for  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness  "  ;  that  the  African  may  have  a  bet- 
ter chance  to  develop  his  possibilities  for  time 
and  eternity.  The  responsibility  falls  upon 
those  who  are  now  engaged  in  making  the  map 
of  Africa.  European  and  Western  civilisation 
must  take  this  matter  in  hand  ;  the  duty  can- 
not be  evaded.  The  far  future  of  African 
humanity  is  being  determined  in  this  present. 
What  that  future  shall  be,  what  it  should  be, 
the  means  of  attaining  the  ideal,  all  constitute 
a  great  problem.     To  accomplish  the  solution 

12 

177 


178  Islam  in  Africa 

will  demand  not  only  the  wisest  thought  of 
statesmen  but  the  sublimest  self-sacrifice  of 
Christians.  Let  us  look  at  some  solutions 
suggested  for  the  great  problem  of  African 
redemption. 

Some  hold  up  Mohammedanism — as  an  end 
in  itself,  or,  better,  as  preparatory  to  Christian- 
ity. The  mighty  hold  which  Islam  now  has 
upon  Africa,  the  great  advance  that  it  has 
lately  made,  all  projected  into  future  and  ima- 
gined enlargement,  have  seemed  to  some  to  be 
clear  indication  of  a  providential  purpose  to 
establish  this  religion  as  supreme  in  Africa. 
Theoretically,  its  acceptance  throughout  would 
be  a  great  advance  upon  paganism  ;  though  we 
have  seen  that  practically  it  has  thus  far 
accomplished  but  little,  and  that  it  simply 
blocks  the  way  to  real  advance. 

It  is  said  that  many  enlightened  Africans  are 
inclined  to  think  that  Islam  is,  at  least  for  the 
present,  the  great  factor  in  the  solution  of  the 
question.1  Mr.  Bosworth  Smith  lays  himself 
open  to  the  charge  of  believing  that  Moham- 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  pre- 
face, xiii. 


The  Great  Solution  179 

medanism  is  destined  to  control  the  larger  part 
of  Africa  and  to  become,  in  and  through  itself, 
the  great  solution  : 

'That  Mohammedanism  may,  when  mutual  misun- 
derstandings are  removed,  be  elevated,  chastened, 
uplifted  by  Christian  influences  and  Christian 
spirit  ...  I  do  not  doubt  ;  and  I  can  there- 
fore look  forward,  if  with  something  of  anxiety, 
with  still  more  of  hope,  to  what  seems  the  destiny  of 
Africa  .  .  .  that  the  main  part  of  the  continent, 
if  it  cannot  become  Christian,  will  become  what  is 
next  best  to  it— Mohammedan."  ' 

It  may  be  that  Mr.  Smith  modifies  his  expres- 
sions, perhaps  opinions,  by  later  statements. 
But  he  has  suggested  an  idea  that  is  certainly 
held  by  some,  and  positively  asserted. 

A  more  plausible,  if  not  probable,  presentation 
of  Mohammedanism  as  a  factor  in  the  great 
solution  is  made  by  those  who  assert  that 
Islam  is  simply  preparatory  to  Christianity. 
Some  development  of  Christian  civilisation  is 
recognised  as  the  end  to  be  striven  for — social 
institutions   such   as    characterise    Christianity 

1  Quoted  in  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race, 
Blyden,  25. 


i8o  Islam  in  Africa 

and  are  pervaded  with  its  spirit.  But  such 
thinkers  claim  that  Mohammedanism  is  a  real 
and  necessary  step  towards  the  ideal.  They 
think  that  African  paganism  cannot,  or  will  not, 
receive  Christianity  directly.  They  assert  that 
the  dilution  of  truth  and  elasticity  of  religious 
demand  presented  in  Mohammedanism  will 
serve  as  a  ladder  up  which  the  African  may 
climb  into  the  heights  of  fuller  truth  and 
social  possibility.  Through  Mohammedanism 
and  its  civilisation,  to  Christianity  and  its 
civilisation,  is  their  cry.  It  is  said  that  General 
Gordon  cherished  the  idea  "  of  utilising  the 
Moslem  power,  with  Khartoum  as  a  centre,  for 
carrying  on  the  work  of  civilising  the  millions 
of  Equatorial  Africa."  !  He  seemed  to  think 
that  Mohammedanism  possessed  enough  truth 
for  this  regenerating  work.  This  seems  to  be 
included  in  the  basal  ideas  of  the  proposed 
Gordon  Memorial  University  in  the  Soudan. 
And  much  that  Dr.  Blyden  says  leads  one  to 
think  that  he,  himself  a  negro  and  a  remarkably 
intelligent  thinker  upon  the  great  problem  of 
African    civilisation, — though    we    have    been 

1  Blyden,  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race,  379  . 


The  Great  Solution  181 

obliged  to  dissent  from  many  of  his  assertions, — 
is  inclined  to  consider  Mohammedanism  as  an 
efficient  factor  in  accomplishing  the  final  and 
full  redemption  of  the  continent. 

Our  opinion  on  this  matter  has  been  made 
evident.  We  believe  that  Mohammedanism 
in  Africa  is  definitely  opposed  to  civilisation. 
While  it  contains  truths  that  are  indeed  higher 
than  the  vague  terrors  of  paganism,  it  also  con- 
tains such  errors  and  evils  as  must  neutralise 
all  the  real  good  that  might  be  accomplished 
by  its  supremacy.  These  evils  are  essential  in 
the  system  ;  as  they  develop  themselves  in  the 
lines  directed  by  African  human  nature  they 
produce  results  that  are  disastrous.  No  ap- 
proach towards  anything  like  Christian  civilisa- 
tion has  thus  far,  in  general,  been  made  by 
Mohammedanism  in  Africa — nor  can  it  be 
made.  The  so-called  Mohammedan  kingdoms 
and  civilisation  of  Northern  Soudan  prove 
themselves  hindrances,  not  helps,  in  progress 
towards  the  ideal  for  which  we  would  strive. 
Islam  sanctions  such  social  evils  as  polygamy, 
easy  divorce,  and  slavery  ;  it  annihilates  with 
the  sword  all  freedom  of  thought  and  private 


1 82  Islam  in  Africa 

judgment  in  religion  ;  it  shuts  out,  so  far  as  it 
can,  all  possibility  of  improvement  ;  it  can 
never  be  otherwise  than  a  hindrance  to  real 
civilisation. 

It  has  been  wisely  observed  that  in  the  con- 
flict between  civilisation  and  barbarism,  Islam 
must  be  the  loser.1  The  great  tides  of  human 
tendency,  like  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  beat 
against  arbitrary  human  obstruction,  only  to 
overcome  in  the  end.  "  The  Sultan  and  his 
officers  are  constantly  obliged  to  obtain  new 
legal  decisions,  legalising  what  is  religiously  il- 
legal and  contrary  to  the  convictions  and  belief 
of  the  readers  of  the  Koran."  2  In  Africa,  as 
in  the  Turkish  Empire,  Mohammedanism  will 
find  itself  unadaptable  to  necessary  changes, 
and  yet  unable  to  resist.  Already  indications 
of  this  are  to  be  seen  in  Central  Africa.  Since 
the  advent  of  European  power  and  the  pressure 
of  European  civilisation  and  ideas,  the  Arab 
power  is  decidedly  checked,  and  apparently  on 
the  decrease.3     We  think  it  evident  that  Mo- 

1  The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem,  H.  H.  Jesup,  94. 

*  Ibid.,  95. 

3  Public  Opinion,  vii.    330. 


The  Great  Solution  183 

hammedanism  in  Africa,  while  up  to  late  date 
making  rapid  advance,  is  now  checked  in  its 
progress.  Apparently  it  has,  at  least  through- 
out a  large  region,  degenerated  into  a  slave- 
raiding  organisation.  With  the  opening  of  the 
continent,  this  feature  of  Islam  will  be  largely 
restricted,  at  least  so  far  as  concerns  the  horrors 
of  traffic  in  the  exportation  of  slaves  ;  though 
so  long  as  Islam  is  what  it  is,  and  so  long  as  it 
has  any  control  whatsoever,  the  institution  of 
domestic  slavery  will  hardly  be  uprooted.  But 
the  check  to  Mohammedan  advance  in  Africa, 
now  evident,  is  but  the  sign  of  a  final  dissolution, 
for  the  system  cannot  accommodate  itself  to 
modern  civilisation.  This  opinion  concerning 
the  retrogression  of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa 
is  confirmed  in  many  ways.1  Indeed,  one  writer 
goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  "  the  political  down- 
fall of  the  system  [Mohammedanism  through- 
out the  world]  is  thus  an  accomplished  fact." ' 
The  ground  of  his  assertion  is  that  Moham- 
medanism is  nothing  without  political  power ; 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  ii.,  486. 

2  Dr.  Schreiber,  of  Barmen,  quoted  in  The  Church  at  Home 
and  Abroad,  xi.,  523. 


184  Islam  in  Africa 

and  that  the  lands  wherein  it  has  held  sway 
are  rapidly  becoming  subject  to  Christian  na- 
tions. This,  and  more,  is  emphatically  true  of 
Islam  in  Africa  at  present.  It  cannot  survive ; 
it  is  a  hindrance  and  not  a  help  to  the  higher 
civilisation.  Mohammedanism  is  not  to  be 
considered  a  factor  in  the  great  solution. 

It  has  been  thought  that  in  Liberia  we  have 
the  key  that  shall  eventually  open  the  lock. 
The  negro  colonisation  of  Africa  seemed  to 
promise  great  things.  It  was  indeed  a  holy 
enthusiasm  that  led  the  founders  of  the  Colon- 
isation Society  to  project  their  scheme.  It 
may  be  that  they  were  largely  influenced  by 
the  thought  that  this  plan  would  solve  great 
questions  for  America  as  well  as  for  Africa,  in 
finally  settling  the  burning  issues  of  slavery 
in  the  Western  Republic.  But  their  scheme  in- 
volved a  definite  attempt  to  solve  the  problem 
of  the  redemption  of  Africa.  They  believed 
that  by  sending  Christian  negroes  from  Amer- 
ica and  the  West  India  Islands  to  Africa,  there 
would  be  made  possible  an  establishment  of 
Christian  civilisation  there  that  should  in  the 
end  permeate  the  continent.     A   little  nation 


The  Great  Solution  185 

has  been  started  on  the  western  coast  of  the 
great  continent,  and,  in  pursuance  of  this  plan, 
it  has  been  recognised  by  the  great  Powers. 
Autonomy  has  been  granted  to  it,  and  vast 
possibilities  opened  for  it.  It  is  said  that  it 
has  been  growing  steadily,  if  not  rapidly ;  that, 
including  the  tribes  under  its  control,  its  popul- 
ation is  already  a  million  in  number,  governed 
largely  by  Africans  from  America.  It  may  be 
that  there  are  large  possibilities  in  that  coun- 
try ;  but  we  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  early 
anticipations  of  the  Liberian  colonists  can 
never  be  realised.  The  black  population  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  West  India  Islands 
prefer  to  remain  where,  originally,  the  cruelty 
of  man  placed  them. 

Liberia  has  made  but  little  impress  upon  the 
continent — and  for  long  can  accomplish  but  lit- 
tle. It  may  be  that  in  the  far  future  it  will 
stand  as  a  type  for  a  great  African  nation — 
Africa  governed  by  Africans ;  though  in  the 
partition  of  Africa  among  the  great  Powers,  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  this  nation  will  seek 
a  protectorate,  and  perhaps  absorption.  Ger- 
many has  already  proposed  this,  but  to  Eng- 


1 86  Islam  in  Africa 

land  or  America  Liberia  looks  with  preference.1 
But  the  central  thought  of  the  plan — foreign 
negroes  imported  into  Africa,  to  rule  and  civil- 
ise— does  not  contain  the  promise  and  potency 
of  success.  Liberia  and  negro  colonisation 
cannot  be  considered  as  a  factor  in  the  great 
solution. 

The  civilisation  of  Africa  must  be  accom- 
plished by  Christianity  and  commerce — hand  in 
hand.  The  conjunction  of  these  two  may  seem 
strange ;  really,  it  is  close  and  vital.  Nowhere 
is  their  mutual  interdependence  more  clearly 
seen  than  in  the  consideration  of  the  problem 
concerning  the  redemption  of  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent. 

"  Conquest  by  railroads "  is  a  phrase  that 
means  much  in  these  days.  But  it  means  more 
for  Africa  than  for  any  other  part  of  our  globe. 
The  railroad  in  Africa  is  the  preliminary  solu- 
tion of  our  problem — for  over  it  alone  can  pass 
that  commerce  and  that  Christianity  which 
shall  accomplish  the  civilisation  of  the  contin- 
ent. The  two  great  material  questions  con- 
cerning Africa  are   how  to  create  wants,  and 

1  See  The  Independent \  1.,  579. 


The  Great  Solution  187 

how  to  open  channels  of  trade.  Until  the  nat- 
ives want  articles  manufactured  elsewhere,  they 
will  not  be  impelled  to  develop  what  their 
own  country  can  produce ;  until  safe  and  easy 
pathways  for  trade  can  be  opened,  such  desire 
for  interchange,  even  if  it  should  exist,  cannot 
be  gratified.  And  until  commerce  opens  the 
way,  Christianity,  and  consequent  civilisation, 
will  make  but  little  progress.  Livingstone's 
idea  was  correct — open  Africa  for  commerce, 
then  Christianity  will  go  in.  He  planned  his 
life  with  far-seeing  sagacity,  and  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  preliminary  work  of  exploring 
the  continent,  in  order  to  find  possibilities  for 
European  entrance  into  the  vast  unknown. 

But  to  make  possible  this  great  solution,  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  that  European  influ- 
ence, or  control,  should  predominate  through- 
out the  continent.  The  answer  to  the  problem, 
at  least  so  far  as  the  immediate  future  is  con- 
cerned, lies  largely  in  the  sway  of  such  nations 
as  England  and  Germany  throughout  the  Dark 
Continent.  The  Conference  held  at  Brussels, 
September  12,  1876,  is  for  Africa  what  the  He- 
jira  is  for  the  Mohammedan, — that  point  from 


1 88  Islam  in  Africa 

which  all  succeeding  history  must  date.  Di- 
rectly resulting  from  that  meeting  was  the  Ber- 
lin Conference  of  1884,  which  gave  birth  to  the 
Congo  Free  State ;  and  throughout  these  years 
gradually  and  greedily  the  great  Powers  have 
been  clutching  coast-line  and  interior,  appro- 
priating vast  regions  in  absolute  control,  or 
establishing  "  spheres  of  influence "  wherein 
they  may  be  predominant,  until  now  of  the 
11,864,600  square  miles  of  Africa  but  a  small 
part  remains  unappropriated.  This  mighty 
appropriation  of  territory  has  been  severely 
criticised,  in  some  respects  justly ;  perhaps  the 
partition  should  have  been  with  more  regard 
to  native  and  natural  rights.  But  adverse 
critics  are  too  apt  to  forget  that  the  whole 
problem  of  African  civilisation,  with  its  world- 
wide complications,  rests  absolutely  on  the  es- 
tablishment of  such  European  influence.  This 
control  may  be  most  selfishly  and  unjustly  ex- 
erted ;  for  illustration,  see  the  absolute  selfish- 
ness of  the  Portuguese  claim  to  control  over 
Nyassaland, — abetting  the  slave-trade  therein, 
— threatening  war  against  England  but  a  few 
years  ago.    Negotiations  are  said  to  be  opened, 


The  Great  Solution  189 

or  closed,  by  which  Portugal's  possessions  in 
South-eastern  Africa  will  be  transferred  to  Eng- 
land ;  but  the  matter  is,  as  yet,  kept  secret. 
Portuguese  control  in  Africa  has  been  largely 
to  effect  an  extension  of  the  rum-traffic  and  a 
maintenance  of  the  slave-trade.1  And  the  Ger- 
man efforts  at  African  colonial  control  have  not 
been  in  all  respects  ideal.  Also,  some  bad 
effects  of  European  influence  in  Africa  stand 
out  markedly ;  particularly  in  connection  with 
the  introduction  of  rum  and  firearms.  Some 
years  ago  it  was  said  that  from  eighty  thousand 
to  one  hundred  thousand  rifles,  mainly  the 
disused  arms  of  European  standing  armies, 
were  imported  annually  into  Zanzibar  alone,3 
largely  to  arm  the  Arabs  that  they  might 
desolate  the  interior  ;  and  it  is  said  that  intox- 
icating liquors  to  the  value  of  over  five  mill- 
ions of  dollars  were  recorded  in  one  week,  at 
the  island  of  Madeira,  as  bound  for  Africa — 
incredible  as  it  may  seem.3 

Much  may  rightly  be  said  against  the  way 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  vii.,  206. 

2  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iii.,  862. 

3  Public  Opinion,  xiii.,  361. 


190  Islam  in  Africa 

in  which  European  influence  has  thus  far  been 
exercised  in  Africa.  Entrance  has  been  made 
for  the  bad  perhaps  more  largely  than  for  the 
good.  But  the  door  has  been  opened.  It  is 
possible  now  to  civilise  Africa.  Something  has 
already  been  accomplished  in  that  line.  Com- 
merce has  already  succeeded  in  checking  slav- 
ery on  the  Congo.1  And  in  this  year  (1898)  the 
new  Congo  railway  has  been  opened  from  Ma- 
tadi  to  Stanley  Pool.  The  "  Cape  to  Cairo  " 
railway  has  been  accomplished  as  far  as  Bule- 
wayo  towards  the  north  and  Khartoum  towards 
the  south  ;  the  two  thousand  miles  intervening 
will  be  covered  in  some  way  before  long.  Mr. 
Stanley  testifies 2  that  the  Arabs  have  been 
crushed  within  the  sphere  of  influence  in  East 
Africa,  and  that  the  suppression  of  the  slave- 
trade  therein  is  assured,  if  not  accomplished. 
"  The  partition  of  Africa  among  the  European 
Powers  .  .  .  was  the  first  effective  blow  dealt  to 
the  slave-trade  in  inner  Africa.  The  final  blow 
has  been  given  by  the  act  of  the  Brussels  Anti- 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  iii.,  43. 

2  Slavery  and  the  Slave- Trade  in  Africa,  H.  M.  Stanley, 
63-75. 


The  Great  Solution  191 

Slavery  Conference."  Troubles  have  recently 
arisen  for  Germany  from  an  unskilful  exercise 
of  colonial  power.  The  British  East  African 
Company  has  been  hampered  in  its  most  im- 
portant operations  in  connection  with  Uganda 
and  the  Egyptian  Soudan.  But  in  general 
much  has  been  already  accomplished,  and  the 
pathway  has  been  opened  to  future  and  fuller 
achievement.  When  more  railroads  are  built, 
as  they  surely  will  be,  there  will  come  rapid 
growth  from  the  seed-sowing  already  accom- 
plished. *It  is  said  that  plans  are  now  being 
prepared  to  utilise  the  Nile  cataracts  for  the 
production  of  electric  power  on  a  scale  larger 
even  than  at  Niagara  Falls,  for  the  illumina- 
tion and  stimulation  of  the  Dark  Continent. 
Africa  is  assured  for  civilisation,  and  civilisa- 
tion for  Africa. 

But  something  more  than  commerce  is 
needed,  as  we  have  seen,  to  accomplish  what 
is  desired.  All  civilisation,  everywhere,  exists, 
and  is  of  avail,  only  as  connected  with  religion. 
It  is  only  through  a  linking  of  the  human  with 
the  divine,  of  the  seen  with  the  unseen,  that 
man  can  secure  that  self-development  and  en- 


i92  Islam  in  Africa 

joyment  which  are  the  objects  of  what  we  call 
civilisation.  The  influence  of  trade  alone  can 
never  sufficiently  curb  the  passions  and  develop 
the  possibilities  of  what  is  now  African  savagery. 
The  twin  factor  in  the  great  solution  is  religion. 
Mohammedanism  has  been  tried,  and,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  found  wanting.  Christianity,  the 
world-need,  is  emphatically  the  need  of  the 
Dark  Continent.  As  compared  with  Islam, 
Christianity  offers  to  Africa  faith  instead  of 
mere  submission.1  And  Christianity  offers 
God  as  present  in  humanity  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ,  instead  of  God  as  a  stern  dis- 
penser of  fate,  who  from  His  far-off  habitation 
has  merely  sent  a  prophet  to  speak  His  word. 
Christianity  presents  a  code  of  morals  difficult 
of  attainment,  but  rendering  possible  the  de- 
velopment of  purity  in  individual  and  social 
life ;  while  Islam  forces  and  fastens  the  shackles 
of  immorality  upon  its  followers.  There  is  an 
inspiration  to  infinite  possibilities  in  Christian- 
ity, there  is  an  indwelling  life,  pushing  onward 
divinely ;  in  Islam  is  the  rigour  and  fixedness 
of  death.     Compare  the  life  of  Jesus  with  that 

1  Shall  Islam  Rule  Africa?  Rev.  L.  C.  Barnes,  24. 


The  Great  Solution  193 

of  Mohammed,  and  therein  we  shall  find  a  true 
comparison  between  Christianity  and  Moham- 
medanism as  applied  to  the  problem  of  the 
civilisation  of  Africa.  We  readily  recognise 
that  Christianity  has  as  yet  made  but  little 
entrance,  comparatively,  into  Africa.  But  the 
fact  that  Islam  has  made  such  large  entrance, 
and  has  accomplished  so  little,  and  can  accom- 
plish nothing  more,  leads  us  the  more  confid- 
ently to  assert  that  the  religious  element  in 
the  great  solution  can  be  found  in  Christianity 
alone.  To  accomplish  this,  Christianity  must 
antagonise  and  supplant  Mohammedanism  in 
Africa.  Conflict,  not  comity,  is  what  must  en- 
sue. Those  who  claim  Mohammedanism  as  an 
assistant  in  the  civilisation  of  Africa,  and  an- 
ticipate an  harmonious  co-operation  between 
Islam  and  Christianity  in  the  development  of 
the  African  races,  are  living  in  a  land  of  dreams. 
The  hardest  part  of  the  struggle  for  the  full 
conquest  of  the  African  continent  by  the  powers 
of  life  and  liberty  will  be  found  in  this  need  of 
overthrowing  Mohammedanism.  The  struggle 
against  paganism  is  easy  in  comparison  with 
that  against  Islam. 


194  Islam  in  Africa 

Yet  the  inevitable  conflict  of  Christianity 
with  Islam  in  Africa  is  not  so  desperate  as  some 
may  think.  The  unconquerable  tenacity  with 
which  Islam  has  sustained  itself  in  the  Turkish 
Empire  has  been  in  imagination  transferred  to 
Africa ;  thus  making,  by  inference,  the  contest 
almost  a  hopeless  one.  But  we  have  endeav- 
oured to  show  that  the  peculiar  type  of  Mo- 
hammedanism which  we  find  in  Africa  presents 
a  great  modification  in  this  respect.  Islam  in 
Africa  will  be  comparatively  easy  for  Christian- 
ity to  overcome.  Its  superficiality,  its  comparat- 
ive languor,  its  emphasis  of  doctrines  held  in 
common  by  Christian  and  Mohammedan,1 
render  the  work  of  the  Christian  missionary 
more  easy  and  hopeful  than  elsewhere  in  Mo- 
hammedan lands.  The  influence  of  the  Christian 
nations,  limiting  to  an  ever-increasing  degree 
the  political  power  of  Mohammedanism  in  Af- 
rica, saps  the  very  life  of  Islam.  Christianity 
must,  and  will,  supplant  Mohammedanism  in 
Africa — as  a  condition  of  the  civilisation  of  the 
continent. 

We  speak  as  if  the  civilisation  of  Africa  were 

1  The  Church  at  Home  and  Abroad,  viii.,  504. 


The  Great  Solution  195 

something  in  the  future  ;  we  must  not  forget 
what  a  start  has  already  been  accomplished  by 
Christianity  and  commerce — promising  com- 
pletion in  a  future  nearer  than  perhaps  we 
imagine.  Practically  the  continent  has  been 
opened  but  a  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  if  it  can  be  called  "  opened  "  even  now. 
Yet  it  is  already  almost  entirely  explored,  and 
even  partitioned.  Half  the  work  of  civilisation 
has  been  accomplished,  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
interior  and  in  an  assurance  of  Christian  control. 
In  Africa  we  are  not  dealing  with  a  conservat- 
ive and  well-nigh  impregnable  power,  like  that 
which  closes  China  to  Christian  civilisation. 
Africa,  far  behind  even  China  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  has  in  these  past  few  years  made  a 
great  leap  forward  towards  Christian  civilisa- 
tion. The  slave-trade  is  already  doomed.  A 
wide-spread  and  complex  commerce  has  begun 
and  must  enlarge.  "  The  opening  of  Central 
Africa  to  commerce  is  working  great  changes 
among  the  people.  They  are  rapidly  laying 
aside  their  native  clothing,  arms,  and  imple- 
ments, and  adopting  those  brought  in  from 
civilised  lands.      People  that  a  few  years  ago 


196  Islam  in  Africa 

asked  the  traders  for  beads,  trinkets,  and  brass 
rods,  now  ask  for  guns  and  cloth  and — rum."1 
Together  with  commerce  and  political  control, 
Christianity  has  already  laid  its  beneficent  grasp 
upon  the  continent.  Hints  of  the  future  solu- 
tion are  given  in  the  magnificent  manhood 
that  has  already  been  shown  by  some  of  the 
native  converts.  Once  in  the  heart  of  Dark 
Africa  a  native  was  dragged  before  Mr.  Stanley 
by  some  of  his  followers,  for  stealing  a  gun. 
Stanley  looked  at  the  gun,  saw  clearly  that 
it  belonged  to  his  expedition.  The  poor  fel- 
low that  had  it  was  so  frightened  that  he 
could  hardly  find  voice,  but  stammered,  "/ 
am  a  son  of  God ;  I  would  not  steal.'"1  He 
had  found  the  gun  and  was  attempting  to 
return  it. 

The  great  solution  of  the  problem,  the  true 
civilisation  of  Africa,  will  be  accomplished  by 
commerce  and  Christianity.  Commerce  has  its 
mission,  its  dangers,  its  heroism  ;  but  the  need 
and  the  greed  of  man  may  be  trusted  to  drive 
it  forward  irresistibly.    Christianity  has  already 

1  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  i.,  374. 
*  Ibid.,  iv.,  638. 


The  Great  Solution 


197 


called  and  crowned  its  heroes ;  but  its  mission 
is  also  more  largely  ahead  than  behind.  It 
must  depend  on  the  heroism  of  men  and  women 
yet  to  offer  themselves,  living  sacrifices. 


INDEX 


Abdallah,  58 

Abyssinia,  attacks  by  the  Mahdists  upon,  107 

Africa,  the  continent  of,  30-37  ;  Victor  Hugo's  forecast  as  to, 
30,  34  ;  beginning  of  modern  exploration  of,  34  ;  material 
improvements  of,  36,  37  ;  problem  of  the  civilisation  of, 
177,  178,  184  ;  civilisation  of,  must  be  accomplished  by 
Christianity  and  commerce,  186,  187  ;  racial  distinctions 
in,  38,  39  ;  native  races  of,  39-45  ;  railroads  and  telegraph 
lines  in,  36,  37 

African,  in  warfare,  the,  100,  101  ;  the  wild,  a  creature  of  the 
imagination,  53 

African,  races,  general  division  of,  by  Cust  and  Ravenstein, 
40  ;  tribes,  indifference  to  the  future  displayed  by,  54  ; 
fear  and  hunger  the  controlling  motive  of  the,  54  ;  recog- 
nition of  the  Supreme  Being  by  the,  53 

African  type  of  Mohammedanism,  160,  161  ;  characterised 
by  aggressiveness,  161-163  ;  by  superficiality,  164,  165  ; 
by  a  lessened  zeal  in  proselytism,  165,  166  ;]  by  a  decided 
materialism,  166-169  J  by  cruel  selfishness,  170,  171  ;  is 
not  impregnable  to  the  attacks  of  civilisation  or  of  Chris- 
tianity, 172,  173 

Agriculture  somewhat  developed  by  Mohammedans  in  some 
parts  of  Africa,  153,  154 

Akbah,  the  "  Conqueror  of  Africa,"  58,  59 

Algeria,  increase  of  the  population  of,  under  French  rule, 
112 

Almsgiving  enjoined  on  believers,  23 

Apostasy  from  Mohammedan  religion  a  treason  to  the  Moham- 
medan state,  99 

Arab,  character,  illustration  of  the,  45-47  ;  race,  the,  44-46  ; 
slave-trader,  destruction  of  the,  the  check  to  Islam's  ad- 
vance, 73  ;  traders,  character  of  the,  64 

199 


soo  Index 


Arabia,  political  condition  of,  7 

Arabs,  supremacy  of  the,  in  region  west  of  the  Nile,  44  ;  as 

merchants   and   slave-traders   in    Central    and    Northern 

Africa,  45 
Army,  the  Mohammedan,  a  religious  body,  99 
Arnot,  Mr.,  in  the  Bantu  country,  52 
Augustine  in  North  Africa,  work  of,  56 

Bambasi,  49 

Bantu,  Zulu,  or  Kafir  race,  the,  49-52 

Barbary  towns,  wretchedness  of  the,  41 

Bedeyat,  the,  merely  nominal  Moslems,  141 

"  Believe,  pay  tribute,  or  die,"  75,  76 

Berber  race,  the,  40-43 

Berbers,  conversion  to  Mohammedan  faith  and  allegiance  of 

the,  59 
Billal,  80,  81 

Blyden,  Dr.,  view  of  Islam  by,  27 
Bournous,  the,  141 
Bruce,  Mr.  James,  34 
Business  and  religion  identified  in  Mohammedan  advance  in 

the  interior,  63 

Call  of  Mohammed,  the,  2-4 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  estimate  of  Mohammed's  character,  8 

Central  Africa,  fetichism  in,  146-149  ;  Mohammedan  advance 
into,  62,  63  ;  neglect  of  prayer  among  Moslems  in,  149, 
150 

Christianity,  and  Mohammedanism,  points  of  contact,  25  ;  in 
North  Africa  before  the  advent  of  Islam,  56,  57  ;  desper- 
ate struggle  of,  with  Islam  in  North  Africa,  58  ;  emphat- 
ically the  need  of  the  Dark  Continent,  192  ;  early 
overthrow  of,  in  North  Africa,  137,  138  ;  entrance  of, 
into  Morocco,  172,  173  ;  and  commerce  must  accomplish 
the  civilisation  of  Africa,  186,  187,  192-196 

Civilisation,  progress  of  European,  dependent  on  recognition 
of  the  fact  of  capability  of  African  races,  53 

Commerce  already  begun,  a  wide-spread  and  complex,  195 

Concubinage  sanctioned  by  the  Koran,  27 

Conflict  between  Christianity  and  Mohammedanism  in  Africa 
is  inevitable,  193,  194 

Congo,  Free  State,  checking  of  Arab  advance  in,  73  ;  tribes, 
good  qualities  of  the,  51  ;  railroad  traffic,  36 

Conquest  of  Africa,  the  Mohammedan,  55 


Index  201 


Control  in  Africa  rather  than  conversion  sought  by  Islam,  98 
Corruptibility  of  Mohammedan  government,  113-115 
Creed  recital  a  religious  duty  of  Mohammedanism,  23 
Cruel  selfishness  a  feature  of  African  Mohammedanism,  170, 

171 
Cust  and  Ravenstein,  general  division  of  African  races  by,  40 


Death,  in  battle  a  leap  into  Paradise  for  the  believer,  98,  99  ; 
penalty  for  renegades,  90  ;  penalty  to  the  renegade  sanc- 
tioned by  the  Koran,  27 

Decadence  (religious  and  moral)  of  the  country  under  the  rule 
of  the  Mahdi  and  the  Khalifa,  60,  61 

Dervishes,  aggressiveness  of  the,  163 

Desert  mosques,  desolation  of,  61 

Division  of  African  races,  general,  by  Cust  and  Ravenstein, 
40 

Doctrine,  statement  of  Mohammedan,  18-21 


Eastern  Soudan,  Mahdist  uprising  in  the,  104-107 
Easy  divorce  sanctioned  by  the  Koran,  27 

Ecstacy  of  Mohammed,   connection  between  his  claimed  in- 
spiration and  the,  6 
Education,  general,  little  idea  of,  in  Islam,  151,  152  ;    mainly 

confined  to  a  reading  of  the  Koran,  152 
Egyptian  Soudan,  general  condition  of  affairs  in  the,  121 
England  and  Germany's  influence  in  the  civilisation  of  Africa, 

187-189 
Equality  of  believers,  recognised  by  Mohammedanism,  77,  78  ; 

of  special  avail  in  Islam's  advance  in  Africa,  the  principle 

of  the,  77,  78 
Ethics  and  religion  widely  separated  in  Mohammedanism,  1 10, 

111 
European,  civilisation,  progress  of,  depends  on  recognising  the 

capability  of  the  African  races,  53  ;  influence  in  Africa, 

bad  effects  of,  189,  190 

Family  relation,  destruction  of  the,  a  feature  of  Moham- 
medanism, 127 

Fanaticism  of  Mohammedans,  throughout  the  Sahara  Desert, 
88  ;  in  North  Africa,  89  ;  less  furious  in  Central 
Africa,  89 

Fast  of  Ramadan,  the,  118,  119 

Fasting  enjoined  on  believers,  23 


202  Ind 


ex 


Fatalism,    24,  25  ;   the  practical  result  of  Mohammedanism, 

Fetichism,  146-149  ;  supremacy  of,  among  African  tribes,  54  ; 
the  superstitious  fear  of,  absorbed  and  assimilated  by 
Islam  in  Central  Africa,  147  ;  Islam  in  Central  Africa  and 
to  some  degree  in  Northern  Africa,  a  modified,  149 

Fezzan,  43 

Financial  integrity,  lack  of,  113,  114 

Force  to  be  used  by  believer  to  impress  truth  upon  infidel,  98 

Fraternity  throughout  Islam,  spirit  of,  80 

Fraud  and  force  the  method  of  Mohammedan  advance  in 
Northern  and  Central  Africa,  64 

Freedom  of  thought  and  private  judgment  in  religion  annihil- 
ated with  the  sword,  181 

Freeman,  E.  A.,  estimate  of  Mohammed's  character,  8 

Fulah  races,  the  69,  70 

Gordon,  General,  104,  106 

Government,  neglect  of  the  proper  functions  of,  a  feature  of 
Mohammedan  control,  112 

Haig,  General,  report  of,  83 

Hamitic  races,  three  groups  of,  40 

Hanifs,  the,  7 

Hausa  tribe,  the,  47,  48,  69,  70 

Hindrance  to  real  civilisation,  Islam  a,  182 

Holy  wars,  100-103  ;   atrocities  of  the,  104 

Hottentot  family,  the,  52 

Hugo,  Victor,  forecast  as  to  Africa,  30,  34 

Hypocrisy  of  religious  leaders  of  Mohammedanism,  115-117 

Incapacity  a  feature  of  Mohammedan  control,  112 

Infidel  to  be  converted  by  force,  98 

Influence  on  natives,  stereotyping  nature  of  Mohammedanism, 

156 
Influences  at  work  to  facilitate  the  conversion  of   Africa  to 

Islam,  79 
Injustice  a  feature  of  Mohammedan  control,  112 
Inspiration,  of  Mohammed,  the  claimed,  6  ;  of  the  Koran,  16 
Intemperance  of  Mohammedans,  122-124 
Islam,  two  meanings  of  the  word,  15  ;   Dr.  Blyden's  view  of, 

27  ;    Canon    Taylor's   view  of,    26  ;     essential   evils   of, 

sanctioned  by  the  Koran,  27  ;    extension  of,  28  ;  number 

of  adherents  of,  28 


Index  203 


"Islam,"  original  meaning  of  the  word,  23  ;  R.  Bosworth 
Smith's  view  of,  26,  27  ;  summary  of  the  faith  of  modern, 
19-21 

Islam's  advance  over  Christian  communities  in  North  Africa, 
57,58 

Jaloofs,  the,  141 

"  Jihad,"  the,  a  conspicuous  feature  of  Mohammedanism, 
100,  102  ;  atrocities  of  the,  104  ;  the  strength  of  Moham- 
medanism largely  due  to  the  idea  of  the,  100  ;  of  the  Imam 
Ahmadu  Samudu,  103 

Judaism  and  the  youth  of  Mohammed,  7 

Kafir,  Zulu,  or  Bantu  race,  the,  49~52 

Khadija,  4,  5 

Khalifa,  the,  106;  defeat  of  the,  by  General  Kitchener  a 
death-blow  to  Mohammedan  advance,  73  ;  hypocrisy  of 
the,  116,  117;  religious  and  moral  decadence  of  the 
country  under  the  rule  of  the,  60,  61 

Koran,  the,  15-20 

Leaders,  hypocrisy  of  Mohammedan  religious,  11 5-1 17 
Liberia  and  the  civilisation  of  Africa,   184,  185 
Licentiousness  of  Mahdism,  the,  121,  122 

Madagascar,  inhabitants  of  the  island  of,  52 

Mahdi,   the  105-107;   hypocrisy  of  the,  116,    117;    religious 

and  moral  decadence  of  the  country  under  the  rule  of  the, 

60,  61 
Mahdism,  licentiousness  of,  121,  122  ;  and  the  slave-trade,  95 
Mahdist   uprising   in   Eastern    Soudan,  history  of   the,   104- 

107 
Mandingoes,  description  of  the,  89 
Manhood   of  the   black   man   must  be  recognised  by  white 

man,  53 
Marabouts,  character  of  the,  113,  114 
Masais,  the  ferocity  of  the,  101 
Massai  tribe,  the,  47 
Materialism   a   characteristic    feature    of    Mohammedanism, 

166-169 
Mecca,  pilgrimage  to,  at  least  once  during  lifetime  inculcated 

by  Mohammedanism,  153 
Medina,  Mohammed  in,  7 


204  Index 


Methods,  simple,  one  of  the  chief  means  of  Mohammedan 
advance  in  Africa,  81,  84,  85 

Military  success  of  Mohammedan  conquerors,  secret  of  the,  24 

Missionaries,  description  of  Mohammedan,  85,  86  ;  Dr.  Bly- 
den's  picture  of,  to  some  extent  poetic  imagination,  87  ; 
review  of  the  work  and  motive  of  the,  87,  88 

Missionary  character,  spirit,  and  zeal  of  Mohammedanism,  74, 
75  ;  prayer  offered  each  evening  in  the  University  of 
Cairo,  90,  91 

Mohammed,  as  a  prophet,  appearance  of,  1  ;  compared  with 
Old  Testament  prophets,  1  ;  character  of,  13,  14  ;  em- 
phatic claims  of,  75  ;  in  Medina,  7  ;  environment  of,  7  ; 
sincerity  of,  9,  10;  the  moral  weakness  of,  11,  12  ;  the 
nervous  temperament  of,  5,  6 

Mohammed's,  belief  in  himself,  9 ;  call  and  vision,  2-4 ; 
interest  in  Africa,  55  ;  followers  under  obligation  to 
force  his  claims  upon  the  world,  75 

Mohammedan,  advance  in  Northern  and  Central  Africa  due 
to  fraud  or  force,  64  ;  control  and  advance  in  Africa, 
much  exaggeration  concerning,  71,  72  ;  control  charac- 
terised by  injustice  and  moral  degradation,  112,  113; 
conquest  in  individual  and  social  life,  superficial  nature 
of,  164,  165  ;  doctrine,  statement  of,  18-21  ;  slaves,  ex- 
istence of,  79  ;  warfare  in  Africa,  selfishness  and  religious 
enthusiasm  combined,  the  motive  of,  108  ;  warriors,  101, 
102 

Mohammedanism,  a  missionary  religion,  74  ;  asserted  by  some  to 
be  a  preparation  for  Christianity  in  Africa,  178-180  ;  moral 
and  religious  character  of,  no  ;  political  character  of,  92  ; 
adaptability  of,  to  native  ideas,  97  ;  aggressive  spirit  of,  93, 
94  ;  the  change  from  paganism  to,  137,  138  ;  elasticity  of, 
96,  97  ;  failure  of,  to  produce  marked  religious  change  in 
Central  Africa,  146;  in  Africa  definitely  opposed  to  civil- 
isation, 1  Si  ;  in  Africa  unable  to  resist  necessary  changes, 
182;  in  Africa,  retrogression  of,  182;  African  type  of, 
160  ;  characterised  by  aggressiveness,  161-163  ;  superfici- 
ality, 164,  165  ;  a  lessened  zeal  in  proselytism,  165,  166  ; 
a  decided  materialism  ;  166-169  I  cruel  selfishness,  170, 
171  ;  is  not  impregnable  to  the  attack  of  civilisation  or 
Christianity,  172,  173;  not  to  be  considered  a  factor  in 
the  civilisation  of  Africa,  184  ;  untruthfulness  one  of  the 
characteristics  of,  117,  118 

Mohammedans  in  Africa,  sixty  millions  of,  137 

Moors,  the,  44  ;  of  North  Africa,  the  sensuality  and  impurity 
of,  126 


Index  205 


Moral  status  of  Islam  indicated  by  intemperance,  122-124  > 
sensuality,  125-127  ;  slavery,  127-134 

Morocco,  the  degradation  and  corruptness  of,  120  ;  entrance 
of  Christianity  into,  172,  173 

Moslem  Missionary  Society  formed,  96 

Msidi,  King,  94 

Mtesa,  King,  93  ;  story  of  the  conversion  of,  to  Mohammed- 
anism, 142,  143 

Mtiller,  Prof.  F.  Max,  presentation  of  Waitz's  classification  of 
African  races  by,  39,  40 

Musardu,  89 

Mussulman  missionaries,  97 


Native  agents  one  of  the  chief  means  of  Mohammedan 
advance  in  Africa,  81-83 

Negro,  the,  48,  49  ;  characteristics  of  the,  49,  54  ;  general 
idea  of  African  population  largely  derived  from  the,  48  ; 
intellectual  capability  of  the,  53 

Nile,  conquest  of  the  upper,  by  the  English,  a  termination  of 
Mahdism,  107 

North  Africa,  before  the  advent  of  Islam,  56  ;  Christianity 
in,  56  ;  decline  of  prosperity  of,  under  Mohammedan 
control,  112  ;  decrease  of  the  population  of,  under  Mo- 
hammedan control,  in  ;  desolating  effects  of  Moham- 
medanism in,  61,  62  ;  social  structure  of  the  communities 
in,  before  the  advent  of  Islam,  57  ;  work  of  Augustine, 
Cyprian,  and  Origen  in,  56 

Nuba-Fulah  group,  the,  47,  48 

Nyamnyam  tribe,  the,  47 

Nyassa  region,  Arab  control  overcome  in,  73 

Observances  of  Mohammedanism,  emphasis  on  the  practical, 

23 
One  true  God,  idea  of,   2  ;    hardly  grasped  by  the  Central 

African  Mohammedan,  145 
Origen  in  North  Africa,  work  of,  56 
Origin  of  the  Koran,  16 

Paganism    to    Mohammedanism,   change   from,    137-140 ;  in 

Central  Africa  a  superficial  one,  143,  144 
Paradise,  the  hope  of,  pressed  upon  believers,  24  ;    material 

description  of,  24 
Pilgrimage  enjoined  on  believers,  23 


2o6  Index 


Political,  character  of  Mohammedanism,  92  ;  control  obtained 
by  Mohammedan  agents  in  the  interior,  63  ;  power  in 
Africa  rather  than  individual  change  of  life  sought  by 
Islam,  98 

Polygamy  sanctioned  by  the  Koran,  27 

Population  in  North  Africa  under  Mohammedan  control,  de- 
crease of  the,  in 

Portuguese  dispossessed  of  the  eastern  coast  round  Zanzibar 
by  the  Arabs,  the,  62 

Prayer,  enjoined  on  believers,  23  ;  in  Islam,  importance  of,  22  ; 
missionary  evening,  90,  91  ;  in  Central  Africa,  neglect  of, 
M9-.  T  50 

Private  judgment  and  freedom  of  thought  in  religion  annihil- 
ated with  the  sword,  181 

Proselyting  among  the  natives  by  Mohammedan  agents 
throughout  the  interior,  63 

Proselytism,  through  conquest  a  feature  of  the  career  of  Mo- 
hammedanism, 74  ;  lessened  zeal  in,  a  feature  of  African 
Mohammedanism,  165,  166 

Pruen,  Dr.  S.  T.,  illustrations  of  the  Arab  character  by,  45- 
47 

Races,  general  division  by  Cust  and  Ravenstein  of  African,  40 
Racial  distinctions  of  the  African,  Dr.  Blyden's  views  on  the, 

39  ;  a  proper  understanding  of,  necessary  to  comprehend 

the  problem  of  the  continent,  39 
Railroads  in  Africa,  36,  37,  190,  191 
Ramadan,  the  fast  of,  118,  119 
Religion,  and  ethics  widely  separated  in  Mohammedanism,  1  to, 

hi  ;  and  politics  inseparable  in  Mohammedanism,  92-94  ; 

the  twin  factor  in  the  great  solution,  192 
Religious  leaders  of  Mohammedanism,  hypocrisy  of,  115-117 
Retrogression  of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa,  183 
Revelation  of  the  Koran,  16,  17 
Revelations   of    Mohammed,   close   connection   between   the 

political  needs  and  personal  desires  and  the,  16 
Richardson,  Mr.  James,  description  of  the  Touarik  tribes,  42, 

43 

Samudu,  102  ;  an  illustration  of  politico-religious  advance  of 
Mohammedanism  in  Central  Africa,  102-104 

Sanusiyah,  religious  order  of  the,  157 

Self-respect  developed  to  some  degree  by  Mohammedanism  in 
the  African  native,  154 

Semitic  element,  the,  44 


Index  207 


Sensuality  of  Mohammedanism,  the,  125-127 

Settlements  established  by  Mohammedan  natives  throughout 
the  interior,  63 

Sheik  Hassan  as  to  indulgence  in  wine  and  spirits,  confession 
of,  123,   124 

Sheik-ul-Islam  to  a  German  convert,  letter  of,  19-21 

Sid-es-Senoussi,  the,  106 

Sincerity  of  Mohammed,  the,  9,  10 

Slatin  Pasha's,  summary  of  Mohammedanism,  113  ;  picture  of 
Islam  as  illustrated  by  Mahdism,  114 

Slavery  sanctioned  by  the  Koran,  27 

Slave-dealers',  raids  followed  by  the  establishment  of  Moham- 
medanism, 68  ;  barbarities  of  the,  131 

Slave-raids,  desolation  caused  by,  132 

Slave-trade,  the,  127-134  ;  in  the  Lake  Nyassa  region,  attempts 
to  preserve  the,  108 ;  and  Mohammedan  proselytism 
closely  allied,  95  ;  and  Mahdism,  95 

Smith,  R.  Bosworth,  estimate  of  Mohammed's  character  by,  8  ; 
view  of  Islam  by,  26,  27 

Social  structure  of  the  communities  in  North  Africa  before  the 
advent  of  Islam,  57 

Sokoto,  Mohammedan  kingdom  of,  68,  69 

Soni  Heli  Ischia,  59,  60 

Soudan,  general  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Egyptian,  121  ;  his- 
tory of  the  Mahdist  uprising  in  the  Eastern,  104-107  ;  re- 
ligious and  commercial  character  of  the  Arab  merchants 
in  the,  64  ;  religious  and  moral  decadence  under  the  rule 
of  the  Mahdi  and  the  Khalifa,  60,  61 

Stanley,  Mr.  II.  M.,  in  Africa  in  1876,  34,  35 

Stanley  Pool,  36 

Superficiality  a  feature  of  African  Mohammedanism,  164, 
165 

Supreme  Being  recognised  by  all  African  tribes,  the  existence 
of  a,  53 

Sura  of  the  Koran,  the  second,  22 

Swahili  language  introduced  by  the  Arab  into  Central  Africa, 
the,  151 


Taylor,  view  of  Islam  by  Canon,  26 

Telegraph  lines  in  Africa,  37 

Tertullian  in  North  Africa,  work  of,  56 

Tippu  Tib,  the  story  of,  65-67 

Touarik  tribes,  the,  42,  43 

Trinity  excluded  by  Mohammedanism,  doctrine  of  the,  25 


208 


Index 


Uganda,  the  Arabs  as  slave-traders  in,  45 
University  of  Cairo,  description  of  the,  82,  83 
Untruthfulness  one  of  the  characteristics  of  Mohammedanism, 
117,  118 

Vision  of  Mohammed,  the,  2-4 

Waganda  army,  efficiency  of  the,  101 

Wahuma  race,  opinion  of  Mr.  H.  M.  Stanley  concerning  the, 

.51 
White  races'  contempt  for  many  African  tribes  not  justified, 

53 
Will  to  God,  fundamental  idea  of  Mohammedanism,  submis- 
sion of  the,  23 
Witchcraft  among  African  tribes,  supremacy  of,  54 
Woman,  degradation  of,  a  feature  of  Mohammedanism,  127 

Zeal,  intolerance  of,  an  essential  element  in  Mohammedanism, 
90,  91  ;  intolerant,  one  of  the  chief  means  of  Mohammedan 
advance  in  Africa,    81 

Zobeir,  58 

Zulu,  Bantu,  or  Kafir  race,  the,  49-52 

Zulus,  the  prowess  of  the,  101 


Date  Due 


5 , i 


rJUN|^J 


crl^fr 




Y6 


OCT  2  8  w. 


I 


